Something Useful

This week was somewhat long and Friday was a long day even though I only had one class. We had chapel in the morning and then a book vendor came to show books to me and my colleague. I had to eat lunch an hour later than I usually do because of this visit (thank goodness the morning sickness has passed or that wouldn't have gone well). So once I was finally fed and feeling human again it was just about time for my class.

I taught the 4th graders more about the library catalog this week. They mostly use the interface that is geared at younger kids. Very easy to use, but few features. So I showed them how, with the regular interface, they could narrow their search by clicking on "fiction" or "non-fiction" or one of the subjects or authors that came up from their search or a lot of other things. I let them play with the catalog on their lap tops. Then I showed them a map of the library and wrote down which types of call numbers correspond with which sections. J 398.2 is non fiction. J Avi is fiction. E Friend is a picture book. Etc.

As they were leaving the classroom to check out books, several of the students in Friday's class thanked me. Like, very sincerely, thanked me for teaching them something they knew would be useful. I know it is not the most exciting topic, but I tried to make it interesting and I guess, with at least a few, I got through to them. It made my week.

Are You Taller Than a Fifth Grader?

I arrived in the lunch room at the same time as the entire fifth grade yesterday. One of the teaching assistants was controlling the flow of students to the circle serve. I spotted the plate I wanted, skipped up to the circle serve, snatched it up, and walked by the teaching assistant. As I passed him he put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. Then he turned to look at me and said, "Oh. You're okay." He thought I was a fifth grader who had slipped by him.

Overheard

The past two days have been especially good for funny gems from my students.

Yesterday I had a third grade class I was teaching about folktales. We had already spent one lesson on folk tales and fairy tales. Yesterday we were focusing on tall tales. I read them the story "Pecos Bill," asked them what exaggerations they heard, and then let them play add-on telephone. We had played telephone at the beginning of the last class to demonstrate how folktales change with retelling (but hopefully retain some of their original message). I thought playing again would be a fun way to end class, and letting them purposely add to or change the message could let them experiment with exaggeration. The young man who went first informed us that his phrase had been "bunnies like pie." Twenty children later it turned into "fart pie on a bucking bronco."

Today I had two fifth grade classes and a fourth grade class. During book check-out time for the first fifth grade class several gentlemen were standing around a computer, performing various searches and talking to each other. A cheerleading book showed up on the screen and one young man said, "My sister's a cheerleader."

Another young man said, "Oh, your sister's a cheerleader?"

The first young man answered, "She's too old for you, son."