Teacher Reminiscing

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you saw how excited I was yesterday when I got a call from one of my former students.

Sometimes you don't realize that you've made a difference (especially as a teacher). It felt amazing to get that call. I started missing my teaching days and looked at some of my old posts about my experiences in the classroom. I laughed for a good 30 minutes. Check them out if you need a quick pick-me-up or if you just want a good laugh (links below):

Kids Say the Darndest

Pronoun Pookie

3rd Grade Flash Mob

The Turnip Turn UP

April Fool's Day Brownies

I'd Rather be a Dog

April Fool's Day BROWNIES!

I started the day by telling my students that I made a special treat for them, but they had to be EXTRA good in order to earn it at the end of the day. My students spent ALL DAY working so hard to impress me. They were curious about what the mystery treat was!

At the end of the day, we played Hangman for them to guess the treat.

B R O W N I E S !

I placed a tray at each desk. Each tray was covered with a paper towel. When I counted to 3, they opened their TREAT!

They got BROWN Es INSTEAD! 

This was an awesome teacher prank I found on Pinterest! Definitely one for the books. What did you do for April Fool's Day?

The Turnip Turn UP

Today my students were picking out books from our classroom library. "Rodney" (name changed to protect identity) was particularly excited about the book he found, Digger Pig and the Turnip, by Caron Lee Cohen.

Rodney: Ms. Wilson! Look at what I got. This gon be guuud.

Me: Oh cool! How do you know it's going to be so great? Have you read it before?

Rodney: No, I just looked at the title

Me: Hmm (I examined the book) Do you even know what a turnip is?

Rodney: Yeah, I think the pig finna have a party cuz turnip is when people be like "turn up turn up turn up! (Rodney does an awkward dance movement as he says this. Then, he proceeds to dance all over the library repeating him self..."turn up turn up turn up!")

I can't.

Just to clarify, this is NOT a turnip!

Ding Ding DIng!

For those of you who are not as well-versed in street lingo as Rodney is, click here to view the meaning of "Turn UP", as defined by UrbanDictionary.com

3rd grade Flash Mob

Today, my students (3rd grade) were busy working hard on a Social Studies independent assignment. Everyone was so focused. You could hear a pin drop in there. Every teacher's dream right?

Apparently, not mine. 

I was bored. So, I went to my computer and put on Kiss, by Prince, and I just started dancing.

At first, my kids just looked at me like I was crazy. Then, slowly, and without saying a word, 2 of my students got up out of their seats and started to sway awkwardly back and forth. The others looked around with uncertainty. Some of them seemed annoyed that I had disturbed their quiet work environment. By the 1st chorus, more than half of my class was up and out of their seats. The rest of them needed a bit of encouragement. So I silently gestured to them that it was okay.

Pretty soon, it was a full out DANCE PARTY. There were a few chuckles and some nervous laughter, but other than that, no one said a word. We just danced and danced.

When the song was over, everything returned to normal. I sat back at my desk, and my students (every single one of them) resumed their quiet activity, no questions asked.

No one mentioned it for the rest of the day. It was like it never even happened. But, it did. And I'm glad I had that moment with my kids. I hope they can look back and realize that everything doesn't have to be serious all the time. It's okay to have some fun and live a little.

It's these moments that truly count.

Thanks, Prince.