Too Much Information

Today while my class was working in pairs and small groups with the lap tops during social studies, I saw Bobby get up and sign out to the bathroom. I'm not sure why I noticed, except that when he tossed the pass (a cd) onto his desk, it fell, so he had to walk over to pick it up. Then he left the class.

I was making the rounds of the student pairs and small groups. I kept noticing that Cindy, who had been working with Bobby (against her will), was all alone (and happy about that, I'm sure...). I glanced at the clock, noting the time, and went over to the bathroom sign-out sheet. When kids sign out to the bathroom, they write down their name and the time. When they come back in, they again write down the time. That way I can tell if a kid is wasting time. I figure it should only take them about 5 minutes. When I looked at Bobby's sign-out time, I could see that it had already been 11 minutes. So I waited.

Soon Bobby came back and rejoined his partner (much to her dismay). I strolled over and grabbed the bathroom sign-out sheet. According to Bobby's sign-in time, he had been in the bathroom for 14 minutes. I called Bobby over.

"Bobby, how long were you in the bathroom?" I asked.

He looked at the clock. "I think for 15 minutes..." he said.

Without thinking, I said, "What were you doing for 15 minutes?" Then I caught myself. "Never mind," I said. "It should only take you about 5 or 6 minutes to go to the bathroom, wash your hands, and get back to class. You owe me time. You will do 10 minutes on a paw at recess."

Later I wrote out the recess slip and handed it to Bobby. He took it from me. Then he said, "I couldn't help it. It was a big one..."

Too much information.

Birds and the Bees

Today I took my class on a field trip to a small local zoo. Very small. The only animals they had there were all kinds of exotic birds (but only one each), several Asian cranes, lemurs, alpacas, mule deer, reindeer, 4 Siberian tigers...and I think that was it. But, our school was registered with them, so we got an hour long guided tour, and the sun was out, so we really had a great time. Not one complaint.

Anyway, during the guided tour, we were at the exhibit of the Asian cranes. The guide was explaining the characteristics of the bird, including the fact that there were both male and female birds in the exhibit. As we watched, one of the cranes began this display thing, spreading his wings out wide and just running from one end of the exhibit to the other. All of us adults knew what the crane wanted.

Several of the parents were next to me. "You know," I said, "If we watch much longer, I won't have to teach health this year..."

It's All In The Delivery Pt. 2

She tried again another day.

Susan: Knock,knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Apple.
Me: Apple who?
Susan: Knock,knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Apple.
Me: Apple who?
Susan: Knock,knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Apple.
Me: Apple who?
Susan: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Orange.
Me: Orange who?
Susan: Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?...Oh, man...!

It's All In The Delivery...

Susan wanted to tell me a joke the other day:

Susan: Knock,knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Orange.
Me: Orange who?
Susan: Knock,knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Orange.
Me: Orange who?
Susan: Knock,knock.
Me: Who's there?
Susan: Bananna.
Me: Bananna who:
Susan: Aren't you glad I didn't say...Oh, shoot!

You Had Me At 'And'...

The other day I took my students to library. It's just a quick 15 minute time to check out books, and then we leave. Anyway, after the first 10 minutes, most all of the kids had checked out books and were sitting quietly at tables reading. Just a few students were still wandering along the bookshelves, searching...

I went over to Johnny, who was one of the wanderers. "Johnny, have you found a book yet?" I asked. Johnny was holding one book all ready.

"I'm looking for a certain book," Johnny replied. "It's by something-Jack. Or London somebody...I'm not sure..." He turned back to the nearby computer to check. "It's by London Jack," he verified.

I looked at the screen, and saw that he was looking for a book by Jack London. I pointed out that the last name is first, and then we walked to the "L" section. We located the few books by Jack London.

You need to understand that Johnny has the reading level of a third grader on a good day. All of Jack London's books are at an 8th grade level. But Johnny likes books about dogs. He pulled out a copy of White Fang. "How about this book," he asked.

"Well," I answered. "It's a very good book. It'll be challenging for you, but it's very good." He decided that he would give it a try, and took it to the check out counter. I wandered around a bit checking on the rest of the kids, then headed toward to check out counter in time to hear the librarian also tell Johnny that the book would be a challenge. "But he likes books about dogs," I said, "so that interest might do the trick!" She checked out the book to Johnny. He went to the nearest table and sat. Soon he calls out, "Mrs. Teacher, you were right!" I walked over to him. He is pointing about halfway down the first paragraph of the book.

"It is a good book! And I'm only up to 'and'!" He was so proud.