Everybody Does

Yesterday was Friday. It was nice out. With a half-hour left in the day, I didn't want to teach anymore. The kids didn't want to learn anymore. Recess!

It was my birthday yesterday as well so I brought in root beer floats for the kids. Amazingly, only one spill! The root beer does make the kids a bit gassy though. As we were lining up to go to recess, I heard quite a few muffled burps.

So we get outside for recess and the kids are running around, I'm enjoying the sunshine and the fact that in 20 minutes it's the weekend. We've been outside for about 10 minutes already when I notice two of my students, Samantha and Natalie, walking out of the school.

Naturally I'm wondering why they haven't been outside with the rest of the class so I call them over and ask where they've been.

Samantha's matter-of-fact response: "Oh, I had to get a sweatshirt and Natalie had to poop."

Poor Natalie turned a very bright shade of red and shot Samantha one of the dirtiest looks I've ever seen from a 4th grader. She then turned to me and said, "I had to use the bathroom."

Samantha: "Yeah, she slammed her root beer too fast."

Then off they went to the playground. I'm pretty sure Natalie had a nice little talk with Samantha after that conversation!

Bueller?

Earlier this week I had the other 4th grade class for social studies. It was only our third time meeting together, but I felt like we were off to a great start. As the students sat down I greeted them by name. The class seemed upbeat and ready to go. We had a lot I wanted to get done so I got right down to business.

"Alright everybody, who remembers what we talked about on Monday?"

There were a few blank stares, several nervous looks around the room, and exactly one not-very-confidently raised hand.

"Claire! Thank you! Do you remember what we talked about?"

Claire:" "I think it was social scientists or something?"

"Exactly! We talked about the four types of social scientists. Does anyone remember one of the four we are learning about?"

Nothing. The kids were racking their brains, but I could see absolutely zero students with a look that showed any sort of recollection. So I figured, I'll roll with it. It's tough to remember the words economist, geographer, political scientist, and historian. Maybe if I give them one and it will spark their memory.


"Well the first one we talked about was the economist. They were interested in how people made and spent money. Anyone remember any of the others?"

Nothing. I could tell they were really trying to recall something, anything. They had nothing. Alright, I figured. Let's just get back to reading about the social scientists with their partners from last time and we'll review after their done.

"Alright let's just get back to working with our partners from last time. Who remembers their partner?"


Nothing. I'm starting to think these kids might not have the capacity to make short term memories.

"Nobody remembers their partner? I guess we can just pick partners agai.....

Finally a hand!

"Jason! You remember your partner?"

Jason: "I think so..."

"Ok, let's take out our books and look at page 4. You read about the economist and then drew some pictures and symbols to represent what the economist is interested in."

Another hand. Maybe they finally remember.

"Mr. Pajak? You didn't give us our books yet."

Everything I was expecting them to remember was what I did with MY class in social studies. We did talk about social scientists, but I only mentioned that we would be learning about four different types. They had no books. They had no partners. Whoops.

At least Jason remembered his partner.

The Four Types of Sentences

Yesterday we learned about the four types of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory. I was impressed with how well the kids were able to pronounce the words as they aren't the easiest for 4th graders. We talked about how most sentences are declarative because we are just saying something, not a command, not a question, not an emotional statement... just saying something. Most of the students were able to recognize the word 'declare' in declarative and made the connection.

So this morning we were correcting our daily sentences on the Smartboard. I told the students that because we now know the four types of sentences, they have to say what kind of sentence it is when they add punctuation. I gave them an example:

"If I put a question mark at the end of this sentence I would say: 'I put a question mark at the end because it's an interrogative sentence.' Does everyone understand what I want you to say?"

A chorus of 'yes' came from the gallery. After a little prompting...(it was morning after all)

As we were going through and correcting the sentence, Thomas walked up to the board and very confidently put a period at the end of the sentence. He spun around with an almost cocky smile and declared:

"I put a period at the end of the sentence because it's a deformative sentence."

Maybe we better review the four types of sentences tomorrow...

Is That Even a Word?

There are normally three sections of each grade level at my school. In 4th grade we switch classes for social studies, science, and religion. I teach social studies for each 4th grade class. With only having the other two classes two hours each week, I obviously don't have quite the same rapport as with my own class. This can make for some awkward yet hilarious encounters.

Last winter, one of the classes was coming into the classroom for social studies. I was standing at the door as they walked in. We usually switch classes right after lunch recess, and the students are often a bit chatty as they come in. That day, for whatever reason, they were almost stoic as they walked in. I greeted them as they walked in. Even if someone responded, it was with a barely audible 'hi.'

Bringing up the end of the line was the very quiet Erica. I figured the same mundane response was coming from her. You'd think I'd learn to never assume anything...

"Good afternoon Erica!"

"Oh hi Mr. Pajak. I like your shirt. It's very purpley!"

Then she just walked right to her seat, not expecting any response. No smile. No chance for me to respond. It's a good thing because I had no idea what to say. I just stood in the doorway for a few seconds stunned.

I'd say it's more of a mauve.

What's for Lunch?

A few years ago I was sitting at my desk as the students were coming in for the morning. As was the normal routine, each student looked at the lunch menu as they came into the room and then made their choice for lunch.

I was quietly observing the students when Max came up with his face twisted in utter confusion.

"Mr. Pajak, what is fa-jaa-ta?"

"What was the word?'

Max: "Faaaaa- jaaaa- taaaa?"

"I'm not sure, where did you hear it?"

Max: "It's for lunch. Chicken fa-ja-ta."

"Ohhhh (laughing). You mean fajita. Chicken fajita."

Max: "No. Chicken faaaa-jaaa-taaa."

"(laughing again) It's actually pronounced 'fajita.' Have you ever had a fajita before?"

Max: "Uh-uh. Never heard of it."

"It's a little like a taco. They're delicious!"

Max: "I think I'll have the grilled cheese."

The Delicate Balance Between Fun and Work

It's the second day of school. I'm still trying to get the kids to know that I'm fun, but I also want things under control in the classroom. Things have been going well. I've made the kids laugh, and I've also made sure they know we need to be serious at times. We're in the middle of a discussion about the reasons we need to walk quietly in the hallway. I like to walk around while I'm talking because it tends to keep the kids engaged.

Samantha is sitting in the front row, and as I walk by she raises her hand. I stop. "Yes Samantha?"

I'm expecting a question here...

"Mr. Pajak, I just love your fuzzy arms!"

She reaches out and pets my arm like it's a chinchilla. I guess we still need to talk about personal bubbles.

It Begins...

I've been teaching for 7 years. Eight if you count the hopelessness of substitute teaching in large Twin City school districts. While there is often frustration in this profession, laughter is even more common.

Each day in my room, we correct two sentences. We work on our grammar, capitalization, and punctuation in the sentences. Each student gets a turn to come up to the board and make a correction. Each student then tells the class what the correction was and why it was made. It was Jamie's turn to make a correction. On the board was the sentence:

but puff my cat hasnt no milk so hes setting on the window

Several corrections had already been made. Joe added an apostrophe in hes "because it stands for he is." Charlie added a period at the end "because it's a declarative sentence." Samantha took out the 'e' in setting and replaced it with an 'i' "because setting doesn't sound right." The sentence now read:

but puff my cat hasnt no milk so he's sitting on the window.

This isn't the easiest sentence for a 4th grader to correct. I was expecting a few hang-ups, but I was happy with the progress so far. With Jamie coming up, I felt confident that she would be able to find something. Maybe the apostrophe in hasnt, maybe capitalize the first word of the sentence, maybe even cross out 'but' because you should start a sentence with 'but.'

Nope. Jamie's correction: "I capitalized 'But Puff' because it's the name of the kitty."

Ever since that day, I've talked about writing down the stories that make this job the greatest in the world. But I haven't ever picked up a pen to do it. It's time. So enjoy if you wish, wonder if you will, and if nothing else, take with you a smile or two.