Sometimes it’s those two second moments with our students that light the day, demonstrate evidence of progress, and cause us to pause as we catch an insight through their eyes...
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Euclid is a gifted 1st grade boy that I work with. When I went into his classroom to get him recently, his class had a substitute, so I paused to let the sub know that I was taking him and when he’d be back. Euclid then said to the sub, “I go with her so that I don’t always get things in like two seconds.” The sub, who happens to be the mother of another of my students, looked at me and grinned :D
As we entered the hallway, Euclid turned to me and said, “I told her that so she would understand what this is all about.” Great idea, lil’ Euclid :o) It’s always helpful to offer others the chance to understand what we do and why!
He was wearing this shirt that day:
I chuckled while reading it and he said, “It’s all just in fun.”
(pause)
“Oh, but did you read the last one?” he asked. “That part was actually true sometimes.”
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Overheard in my classroom recently, one student talking to another student: “I think so much more in this class that I find I end up being more absent-minded about the little things in here.”
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Questions posed to me by Binary (8th grader) this year:
“Was Dr. Frankenstein a chemist or a biologist?”
“May I use your desk as a radio wave insulator?”
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I had a conversation with a fourth grader the other day and was asking her about her Spelling words. Having spent a little time in her classroom, I’d noticed that the kids took a pre-test on the list and, for whichever of those words they spelled correctly on the pre-test, they got to pick new words from a “shopping list.” But the shopping list words didn’t seem that much more challenging to me.
Marianne agreed and said, “Yeah, I was still getting 100%'s on the final tests, too, and not needing to study the shopping list words much, either. But then Mrs. Shazam started pre-testing me on the shopping list words, also, and she found a bunch of 7th grade words that I could pick from instead.”
I asked her if the words from this “alternative alternative” were more challenging and she enthusiastically agreed, “Yes, I have to study now!” I asked how she was doing on her spelling tests now and she said, “Well, I’m still usually getting 100%'s, but I have to work for them now.” I asked her which 100%'s were more satisfying, the piece-of-cake ones, or the ones she had to work for. “Oh, the ones I have to study for!” she said with a huge smile. “I’m learning new words, now.” :D
Some kids will need an alternative alternative!