In a written assignment: The concluding paragraph of a write-up about ‘Dinosaurs’ (the first written assignment this kid had ever done):

‘Finally, dinosaurs died. Asteroid hit earth and died the dinosaurs. SURPRISE DINOSAURS!!’

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Me: ‘Give me a sentence with ‘trip’ in it.’

Kid 1: ‘Fell down, trip, same.’

Me: ‘No, a sentence.’

Kid 2: ‘Fell down is the same as trip.’

Pause.

Kid 2: ‘It’s a sentence!’

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I fix the pink screen problem on the classroom computer.

Me: ‘I’m a genius!!’

10 year old boy, shaking his head: ‘That’s your suppose. You think. Just you. 100%.’

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Kid throws a glue stick to me. I catch it.

Kid: ‘Oh, teacher, you will be a very good baseball player!’

His friend next to him looks at him, skeptically.

Kid: ‘Women’s league.’

His friend nods.

Me: ‘Ehhh, thanks guys.’

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

While talking about pets with my 7 year olds, one little girls whips out her phone to show me a picture of her black and white hamster:

Little girl: ‘Teacher, LOOK, it’s a panda mouse!!!’

_____________________________________________________________________________________________