I haven't been TOTALLY idle though. I have been collecting little stories, quotes, questions and answers from the children with whom I have come into contact in the last six months. As always, the words they speak are gems, not only because they often make me laugh, but also because these words are free of guile, hypocrisy, meanness, or untruth. Imagine! We adults have a lot to learn from kids.
As a supply teacher, I often have to remind students that I am NOT their regular teacher, and that if they, while trying to be helpful, keep telling me what Mr. or Mrs. would be doing, I am not able to do my job to the best of my ability... yada, yada, yada. I have to repeat this little "pep talk", more than once in the primary grades, while adding that unless someone is going to be hurt by my possible ineptitude (LOL), they must refrain from telling me what to do.
All was well in one Grade One French Immersion, one morning, until little Eric raised his hand and said, quietly, '"Madame, we were supposed to be in gym five minutes ago.” O-O-P-S!
I was asked how to spell "filet" by a little one in Grade One. I hadn't understood his word, so I replied, "Pardon me?" He nodded and started to write down "pardon me."
I told a tiny little five year old in Kindergarten, that I was amazed that she could ALREADY read at an F/G level, which is far advanced. She looked at me very seriously with huge blue eyes, and stated matter of factly, with a lisp, "I am bery smwart! I know everything."
After I had yawned a few times in mid afternoon, little Mandy asked "Madame, did you slept last night?"
In French Immersion, I had to laugh at one little one in Grade Three who told me, in good Acadian patois, that "Il y a "aink" deux personnes absents." One student to another in the same class, "Ça c'est TON faute!"
I asked an elementary class, "What do you say when it is the end of the week?" "Yeah?" replied one with hesitation. I was looking for TGIF. LOL A bit too early for that vocabulary, I guess.
A three dimensional cone was being assembled, in Grade One, when I asked the assembler if he could improve on his work. He came back a few minutes later and informed that he had INDEED, "made it gooder!"
In a class of eleven students, I had the hardest time keeping the three students' names' straight, and pronouncing them correctly: one was Émilie in French, the other Emily in English, and Amélie, with an A. Back in the day, there used to be three Jennifers in a class.
While trying to settle a dispute at recess, between three students in Kindergarten, where one had apparently been hurt by another, a fourth one joined in and stated, "Dylan and Caleb are trying to FRAME Andy."
While waiting for the last late bus I asked little Logan in Grade One, where he lived. His reply? "It's not far. It's IN Canada."
Again, waiting for that last late bus, two little ones amused themselves with dandelions, by going up to each other and saying, "My mother had a baby, and her head POPPED off!", and popping off the dandelion head as they recited the ditty. Gees, what happened to holding a buttercup under your friend's chin, to see if they liked butter? That is what WE did in school. After three days of this, a little girl in Kindergarten, hearing once again the chant about the baby's head popping off, looked at me quizically, and asked, 'How did THAT happen?" Poor thing, they take things literally. I had to reassure her that no baby's head had popped off.
Last comments by a few getting on their bus at the end of the day - "See you later, crocodile! " Another student, 'You're an OLD teacher!"
Kindergartener: Madame, do you know how many minutes in an hour?" "You tell me.", I replied. His reply? "One!", stated with great confidence.
Chase, in Kindergarten, lost the letter "e" he had cut out, to finish pasting the four letters to make the word "come." He looked up at me and said, very philosophically, "The "e" is silent anyway." What a smart little fellow!
One Friday afternoon in art class in Grade Two French Immersion, I found something a student had done rather funny, and I couldn't stop chuckling, albeit quietly. One little girl noticed and said to me with a big smile, "Ah Madame, you are such a GIGSTER!"
Here is hoping you all get a chance to be "gigsters."
