fourth grade funnies

today seemed to drag. so, to help me remember why teaching can be entertaining, i've compiled a short list of amusing things that have happened this year:

two months ago... during afternoon independent work time, one of the kids (ChMe) comes running up with a note in his hand. the note read: "i got to throw up." his other hand was covering his mouth. i told him to run to the garbage can. he wrote me a note to tell me he had to throw up and to ask for permission! this is a first.

last month... the kids took a district science test. the last part is a constructed response (short answer) question. as the kids were finishing up the question on a plant/animal food web about producers and consumers, i wrote some language arts vocabulary on the whiteboard. after school, i was grading their responses and i came across JeS's. the question was "what does the arrow from the mice and the songbird to the plant tell you about mice and songbirds?" something along the lines of "both songbirds and mice eat plants/consume plants" would've been correct. she had written, "the producers and consumers ambition." seriously...no logical connection! i started laughing so hard there were tears. she is the only student in the class who randomly interjected a vocab word into her science answer. this might only be funny to me...and other teachers, but i made a photo copy of it to keep.

last week... like i mentioned before, i had the kids make their own greeting cards and think up messages for the inside of the card. i read CaG's message to his parents. this is what it said, "i'm sorry mom and dad for getting in trouble. i really like you guys. when i see david hasselhoff, it makes me want to puke." hahaha... i couldn't hold back the laughter. i asked him where he heard about david hasselhoff and he said tv. i don't think he knew why i thought it was funny.

a few weeks ago... my disheveled girl, MoF, was caught drawing on her composition book. after i confiscated it, i had to try hard not to laugh. she had been drawing a giant-headed princess and a giant-headed prince kissing, along with two ponies, presumably a boy and girl pony with hearts all around. the drawings were pretty funny. i made a copy of this too. this same girl, i caught her staring off into space and drawing on her cheek with a pencil...twice! when i told her she had pencil marks on her face, she said, "how did it get there?"

on friday afternoon, i spotted one of the kids in the after school program and he ran up to me to ask me if i had a paper clip. i said no and asked him what he wanted it for. he said that he and his brother like to stick it in electrical sockets and get a slight electrocution. i looked at him and said, "huh...that actually explains a lot." and he looked back at me, blankly.

today, i sent home a notice about different magnet school programs that they can apply to for next year if their families are interested. one boy, JaS, asked, "do we have to wear magnets?" ahahaha... the girl next to him, in an exasperated manner, was like, "oh my god..."