Today I got to start setting up my VERY OWN classroom! WHOO HOO! I felt SO cool. I will have to post some pictures of it when it's complete, but I'm going in again tomorrow to work on it some more.
I had a lot of fun, especially because I had some helpers. As I was setting up, two little girls (aged 8 and 9; I now know that they are the secretaries' daughters) came in and said, "Are you the NEW teacher?!" I said that I am (and felt really cool saying it, too. Ha ha!). They asked me if they could help out, and I said sure.
It's harder than you might think to find jobs for 8 and 9 year olds to do. They were really helpful at setting up chairs and putting folders away, but eventually my assignments became things such as "Umm...can you check which bean bag chair is the comfiest?" or "Can you check how high this bouncy ball will bounce?" They really liked those kinds of jobs.
Kids are really funny because they always end up saying weird things. Sometimes their comments are just funny, and sometimes they spill things that their parents would totally chastise them for if they knew what secrets their children were spilling. Here are a couple of snippets from my conversations with the girls today:
S: My friend's parents are divorced, so she has to go to a new school.
Me: Oh, that's very sad.
M: I don't even HAVE a dad!
Me: I'm sorry to hear that - at least you have a great mom!
M: Nah, I don't actually like her. And the reason I don't have a dad is because he's in prison.
Me: I'm sorry; that's really too bad.
M: Yeah, and if you wanna know why he's in prison it's because he murdered my mom.
Me: *shocked look that I couldn't conceal in time*
M: Oh don't worry - she's okay now!
Me: *very confused look* Well...that's good.
The girls seemed confused by my confusion, and they started whispering to each other.
S: I think "murder" might mean "killed" or something.
M: OH! Well, he didn't kill her. He just hurt her. But murder sounds cooler.
S: Ok!
Oh my goodness. What funny children (but what a sad story!). Here is another fun quote:
S: What grade do you teach?
Me: Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Language Arts.
S: Cool! You're going to have my brother!
Me: Great! Do you think I will like him?
S: Well, DON'T be fooled by his hair. He has really cool hair, but underneath that hair there are some SERIOUS problems, if you know what I mean (gives me a very odd glare).
I always ask students what they want to be when they grow up, and I think today's answer was great:
M: I am going to be a harp soloist and a model and an actress, and then when I retire I am going to be a teacher.
Me: Sounds fun!
M: But you never really know - I could change my mind. It's a long time till my career.
Me: Very true...
They were fun. I hope they're there again tomorrow! I didn't realize how much I missed children...but I really did! I'm so glad to be back in school.
No comments:
Post a Comment