Names have been changed.
1. Part of the beginning of the year is establishing routines. One routine is that if I'm working one-on-one with a student, other students are not to interrupt unless they are "bleeding or barfing." During the second week of school, I was working with a student when Pete came up to talk to me. He started to interrupt, which was weird for Pete because he seems very quiet and responsible. I said to him, "Pete, you need to wait a moment while I help Wendy." Pete seemed very insistent and said it was "important," so I turned around and said, "Okay, Pete. What is it?" He responded urgently, "The rats grabbed your internet cord and are DEMOLISHING it." BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! They were indeed chewing on my yellow ethernet cord as if it was made out of rat treats. Don't ask me how they pulled it into their cage, but they did. I ran over and fixed the situation, and then I thanked Pete. I had to change my rule to, "You can interrupt me if you are bleeding, barfing, or if the rats are destroying something important."
2. On one of the first days of school, Juan came up to me and said, "Here Miss Webb. I made these for you." The cookies he gave me are pictured below. One has my name on it, and one has a spider web "because your name is web, like a spider." It doesn't really matter that my name is Mrs., not Miss, and also that he spelled my name wrong.... it's the thought that counts. I think they are adorable, and they were tasty too!
3. Have you ever heard of "Skylanders"? Well, they are creepy little things that are probably a new generation of Pokemon. There are Skylander figurines that are very popular with the boys in my class, and I think they are all creepy looking. They are tiny little monsters with plastic weapons. One boy was playing with one during class, and I turned from my lecture and said, "David. If someone is playing with toys during my class, I take them away. You have to understand, though, that the toy you are playing with CREEPS ME OUT, and I really really really don't want to take it from you because I think it will give me nightmares. If you could put it away, I think it would save both of us some trouble." He put it away, but then later that day put it on my keyboard so that when I went to my computer it would be there to scare me. Ha ha! Goofy kids. They crack me up.
4. I have a student who is very special needs. You have to understand that for this story to make sense. He is very respectful and cute, but he's just.......special. I had been talking all week about an English quiz, yet when we got to Friday he was still surprised by it. He did not mean to be disrespectful AT ALL, but when I started to pass out the quiz he put on a southern accent and said, "Heeeeeey! You didn't tell us about no quiz, Cowgirl!" L.O.L.
5. When students are finished with their quizzes, they can either read or draw on the back of their quiz. Johnny was drawing on the back of his paper. He drew a ship with a flag that said "USA," and all of the people on the ship were freaking out because a giant shark was about to take a bite out of it. I bent down to Johnny and whispered, "I really like your picture, but why is the shark killing Americans? That's kind of sad." He said, "Wow, you're right!" and quickly erased the USA flag and replaced it with a flag that said "Russia." "Now the shark is killing the communists!" Hahahaha...politics by a ten-year-old. I love it.
Welllllp, there are five stories to get you excited about fifth grade. I know I am! These kids crack me up, and they are a zillion times more respectful than middle schoolers. Also, I get to be with the same kids all day, so I'm getting to know them really well. We're only two weeks in, but I think it's going to be a great year.
You are such an amazing teacher. I love your student stories :)
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