Wednesday, April 11, 2007

32 And Dwindling

One of the faculty mentioned today that we only have 32 days left of school. I couldn't believe it. It has gone so fast! My mom used to tell me that the older I got the faster time would fly. Being young and dumb I doubted this, but low and behold it is true. Anyway, in honor of the last 32 days, I thought I'd share some little funnies from the classroom. I bet you've all gotten some sort of email (or lived it) that has funny little things kids say or the horrors of raising boys. The funniest part of those for me these days...I know kids that actually say things like that!

I know teachers probably shouldn't have favorites, but one of mine loves to give me hugs. I can count on one every day from him. Well, the other day, he came up to hug me and held on a little longer than normal.

Me: "Sweetie, what are you doing?"
Sweetie: "Mmmm, Ms. Stewart you smell!"
Me: (a perplexed look on my face) "What?"
Sweetie: "Good...I mean you smell good."

During a unit on rocks and minerals, our class came across a picture of Mount Rushmoore. I asked why Mount Rushmoore was important. The normal answers were given about it having presidents on it and such. Since just a few weeks earlier we'd talked about President's Day, I asked if anyone could name the presidents on the monument. We did great with Lincoln, Washington, and even got Roosevelt. I noticed that one little girl was practically hovering above her seat and I thought her arm might fly right off she was waving it so hard. This child normally rushes to shout out answers so I wanted to reward her patience.

Me: "Okay, B. Thank you for not shouting out. Do you know who the other president is?"
B: "George....George....Clooney!"
Me: (struggling and failing to not laugh) "No. He's not a president."
B: "Are you sure Ms. Stewart?"
Me: "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

My kids love to ask me how old I am. I told them once (on my birthday) and I expected that would be the end of that...it wasn't. I have one boy who particularly loves to ask me. I think he does it simply to annoy me. Anyway, I finally told him that it wasn't polite to ask a lady how old she was and he seemed satisfied with that answer. Well, several weeks later we got a new volunteer in our classroom. He was a huge hit with the kids and was pretty easy on the teacher's eyes. Anyway, I'd be wondering how old he was and if he was a student or just a generous guy. So, imagine my surprise when I heard this little boy out on the playground asking how old he was.

Me: "It isn't polite to ask people how old they are, M."
M: "I thought you only meant women."
Me: "I mean grown-ups. It isn't polite to ask grown-ups how old they are."
M: "Oh okay."
Me: "So, did he tell you how old he was?"
M: "22"
Me: "Okay...go play."

And that ended my fascination with the volunteer. I don't do younger.

There you go - just a few of the wonderful little snippets that make teaching so...entertaining!

9 comments:

smileymamaT said...

Oh thank you! That was great! I miss my kids. I've never had my own classroom, as I taught kids with special needs and autism one-on-one, but I miss the kids at school! Thanks for sharing!

Allison said...

Aw. That really makes me consider being a teacher! But I'd be dealing with High School kids, that'd be a whole different story.

Trina said...

You seem like such a GREAT teacher Steff! Obviously your kids love and respect you, that's awesome. I loved how you managed to NOT let that little valuable tidbit of info that the boy received about the teacher's age go to wast...rofl. Good for you! I mean why let it go to waste, the damage was done, right? hehehe

marykathryn said...

Kids are so funny!! You sound like an amazing teacher and the kids seem to love you..We need more teachers like you in my little town..looking to relocate?? LOL
Have a great day!!

Nikky said...

Awww. I love hearing about this! I really love those "kids say the darndest things" emails, too. I'd love to hear more, anytime!!
I get some cute ones from my own kids, but I really think they save the true treasures for their teachers!! You must be a great one, sounds like the kids really love you!

Steff said...

Thanks ladies! It makes my heart swell a little to hear that y'all think such sweet thoughts about me and you only know me through blogging!

And since y'all left so many sweet thoughts, I'll share another funny that happened just today.

We've been writing a descriptive paper and talking about describing words. Today we made a list and it included size words...like big, tall, small, short, fat, ect. Well, one of my boys just shouted out above the crowd, "My dad says size doesn't matter."

All I can say is thank goodness I was facing the white board!

Edtime Stories said...

I love the answers kids give and your last comment was amazing. Many years ago while working with toddlers we would let them run around naked in the sprinklers in summer. (Very progressive place). Anyway one girl came up to a boy and looked at his penis, she said, "you have a small penis, my dad has a big big big penis". suddenly my co-teachers got silent and one almost choked on her coffee.

Anonymous said...

You GO Girl!! Loved this post. Next year you should teach the kids to ask Single, Income??

Anonymous said...

I know school is almost over, and I am starting to get sad. I am going to miss my kniderbabies with the exception of a few. I thought about seeing if I could move up with them, but I don't want to leave my K-Team. But I am looking forward to a much needed summer break. Well I should go to bed now. Enjoy reading, cleaning, shopping, golf, or whatever makes you happy.

Much Love! Nina