i get by

it's monsoon season which means, yep, you guessed it. rain. lots and lots of rain. the skies are usually overcast and if it's not actually raining, it's threatening rain. some days, i don't mind it. but on the days that i do mind it, i feel like a blob.

the other night, i didn't have the greatest attitude towards teaching. i simply didn't want to teach. i don't often feel that way, but the downpour made me feel...yep, you guessed it, like a blob. a big ball of blob. the blobster. the blob-e-rina.

still, the show must go on. and even though i didn't have much energy, gratefully my students brought it and my goodness, did they BRING it! i don't think i've ever laughed as much as i have in those two back to back classes. entertaining and hilarious as all get out! here are my highlights:

my thursday elementary school students just may be my favorite group this term. they are individually delightful and when their energies combine, it's a burst of reliable amusement and insight.

we were reviewing reading/writing terms: purpose, tone, connotative language, facts and opinions. to distinguish facts from opinions, i asked, "do you believe everything you read?"
isaac answered with an emphatic, "YES!"
"oh, really?!"
"YES!" (at this point, a few of the other students were displaying their mischievous knowing smiles.)
"okay then. if i tell you that you're foot is melting, will you believe me?"
(don't even ask me where in the hell i pulled that RANDOM one from!!! when does anyone's foot ever melt?!)
there's a confused look on isaac's face...as he says, "yes?"
"really?!?!"
"i mean, no!"
a different student, ryan (such a smart cookie!!!) points out, "teacher, you're saying that, it's not written!"
"good point, ryan. now, if you were to read that, isaac, would you believe it?"
the light bulb clicks in his brain--you can actually hear it! CLICK!--as he says, enthusiastically, "NO!"

but the best part is that that sentence, "your foot is melting" became our inside joke for the entire length of class. i should also add, that i pretended that my foot was indeed melting and got the kiddies to laugh uproariously. seriously. anything going wrong with the body is an instant winner. thank you, thank you very much.

in my second class, there are 7 middle school students. 6 girls. 1 boy. they are also great, although sometimes a bit moody. we were discussing irony and to illustrate examples, i went to each student and told them each a horrible scenario. in return, they had to respond ironically. i told ashley, "you are bald." (again, where the hell did i pull that one from?!) and the students went wild with laughter, which of course made me hoot and holler too! it was fantastic! once we got all the giggles out, ashley's ironic answer was, "wonderful!"

i don't remember what the topic was but i mentioned shakespeare's macbeth's famous quote: boil, boil, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. and a different ashley replied, "boil, boil, toilet trouble?"
and that just about did me in! ha ha! toil and trouble, toilet trouble! i get by with laughter.