For Your Enjoyment

So, we get to see the nitty-gritty of schools, true? I mean, there's a lot of ugliness in schools. A lot of tough stuff, kids being mean and administrative gossip and silly assessments to worry over. But we also all love school as aspiring teachers. We chose this profession because we see value in schools and in kids. We want to help, and we think schools are a good place to help. We also think it can be kinda fun. 

Here are some stories from my student teaching thus far to remind us of the romantic and hilarious side of teaching, and humanity. 

(These are not their actual names).

"Did you get a hair-cut?" The other kid says yes, and then they high-five. 

Another story. Say my last name is Spaecle. Well the kids have a hard time with this name, right? because it's a hard name. But I've been with these kids for about a month at this point, and they still have trouble with it. Their pronunciation is fine, but when my mom came to visit it revealed some misconceptions. 

Me: "This is my mom, Mrs. Spaecle."

 Students: "Wait you both have the same name, that's crazy!"

"Doesn't that get confusing? How do you tell each other apart?"

Me: "Well, you see, students, Spaecle is not my first name. No, my mom and I both have different first names." They thought my first name was Spaecle! Ha!

And then lots of them are not sure where the Miss ends and the Spaecle begins. Many students call me Miss Miss-Spaecle. And some of them called my mom Mrs. Miss-Spaecle. Oh the drollery. 

Another story: One day we had outdoor recess. The sub had already taken out most of the kids, and I stayed behind to take out the lagging kiddos. I was walking out with Able, who had a kickball in his hand. As we walked down the hall I immaturely knocked the ball out of his hands (bad hallway behavior, Emily). Then I said to him, "I'm actually just a kid." And he said emphatically, "No you're not." And then I had him guess how old I was and he guessed nineteen. 

Another: Kyle, who has long swooshing hair, is talking with another kid at his table. This other kid, say James, has short bangs. He tries to flick back his hair, and Kyle says, "You should grow your hair out. You would look good with long hair." James pats his bangs and says, "Oh yeah?" Kyle affirms, "Yeah."

Another: Lyle: "How do you have both gum and an oreo?" Jeremy: "I have the gum on the left side of my mouth and the oreo on the right side." Lyle: "I can't do that."

Finally: One of Jeremy's good friends, Joseph, is dancing in his seat to one of the songs that is playing during the slideshow before school. Jeremy is just smiling happily at him the whole time.