Me: “Oh, you’re learning to play the flute? I used to play the flute in elementary school.”
Student: “Yeah. I’m not that good at it, though.”
Me: “You’ll get better. It takes practice. And if it makes you feel better, I wasn’t so great at it either.”
Student (genuine surprise): “YOU weren’t good at something?”
Oh, kid. You don’t know me at all.
Everyone needs to lay off Brian Williams. Who DOESN’T lie at work?!
Although I suppose one could argue that I, too, should be fired…
I’ll let you know what she comes up with. (And no, Siri, I do NOT want to tap and edit “bastards.” That’s the exact word I want to use. Stop judging me.)
Just got this check in the mail. I am literally too embarrassed to deposit it. Even with my iPhone. Like I don’t want the Bank of America app to know this is my life.
(Continuation of Right. I See That Now. )
“I think the character in ‘Set Fire to The Rain’ shows strength because she does not want to be around the secondary character anymore. So she dies.”
Because setting rain on fire is a safety hazard, guys.
Students were asked to analyze Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” and to prove that the main character in the song shows strength.
Kid (approaching me with her finished essay): “I’m not so sure about this one.”
Me: “Ok, well before I read it, what is it you aren’t sure about?”
Kid: “Well…I used evidence from the text. I talked about how she burned her relationship in the flames, but I’m not really sure why that shows strength.”
Me: “Well, was it a good relationship? Was she being treated well?”
Kid: “No.”
Me: “So don’t you think it takes strength to end a relationship in which you’re not being treated well?”
Kid (pausing to think): “I don’t know. I’m 9.”
#mastersdegree
Kid: “How come on my math sheet you wrote that I had to write the answer in hashtags?”
Me: “No, honey. Not hashtags. NUMBERS. You were supposed to write a matching NUMBER sentence.”
Kid: “But you wrote hashtag.”
Me: “Well, believe it or not, back in the olden days– the days of yore, if you will– THAT was a symbol for the word ‘number!'”
Kid (skeptical): “Well that’s just weird.”
A student misbehaved yesterday so I sent a note home explaining the incident to her mom, and asked that the note be signed and returned. Today the kid handed me this.
Me: “So your mom read and signed THIS paper?”
Kid: “Yes.”
In a lesson about text interpretation, our class analyzed the Cyndi Lauper song “True Colors” (because it fit the lesson, and also because if these kids don’t know who Cyndi Lauper is, I’ll cry). After playing the song a few times and discussing it, we asked the students to write a response explaining the song’s meaning.
Twenty minutes later, a kid (9 years old) approached me with his finished essay. The opening line read:
“The lyrics say ‘Let your colors show,’ and that means that you have to express your feelings and let the beast inside of you awaken so that you can become who you truly are destined to be.”
I read this aloud and laughed, impressed but also wondering where the hell he came up with that phrasing.
The kid leaned in close, utterly satisfied with himself, and with a straight face said– “Let’s just say I watch a LOT of Oprah.”
I stopped reading and gave him an A+.
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