Then Who Can You Trust?

For the last reward of the year, the kids are going to earn a movie. Notice I say "going to..." They will watch a movie the afternoon of the day before the last day of school. Because really, what else is there to do?

So the other day they had earned their reward, "kickball challenge," when they got to challenge another 5th grade class to a game of kickball at the end of the day. We had previously been challenged to kickball by Mrs. Smith's class, and we won, and the kids really enjoyed it. So this time we challenged Mrs. Johnson's class. We had beat Smith's class, and Johnson's class had previously beaten Smith's class. Therefore, if we won, we'd be the champs of 5th grade. And we won!

On to a new challenge. As previously stated, it was for a movie. I will show it regardless of behavior. But the kids don't know that. On Tuesday, I put up five blanks on the board. Yesterday they were so bad that I didn't give them any letters. But today they worked and worked and worked. So at the end of the day, I commended them on their behavior, and gave them an "M." I had planned on giving them a letter a day, beginning with m, and just spelling out "movie." No games or tricks like I usually do to keep them guessing.

Today they got an "m." It's a 5-letter word beginning with "m." It's obvious what it is going to spell. But I have set a precedence here. As soon as I put up an "m," some kids said, "It spells movie!" But other kids just didn't think they could trust me. Would I really make it that easy-that obvious? No, they decided. And I heard several kids say, "I don't think it spells it movie...You know how she likes to put up the wrong letters!"

You can't trust the teacher.