In the light lane

NEA Today, Oct 1999

One Ringy Dingy.......

Every morning in my third grade class we have sharing. One of my students shared an object that fascinated the class. She showed how it worked by putting her finger in it and turning it. Everyone wanted to try it. They begged me to hook it up in the classroom to see if it would really work. What was this scientific marvel? A rotary phone!

Vance Carruth

Huntington Beach, California

Our seventh-graders finished a unit on the immune system by visiting a local church cemetery. They learned that early in the century many children succumbed to childhood diseases because there were no vaccinations.

One fellow got the point of this exercise, but was off on his spelling. When asked on a test the reason so many children were buried at the cemetery, he wrote, "Those little babies died because they didn't get vacations."

Juli Hauser

Burlington, North Carolina

After introducing a unit on medieval times to my sixthgrade reading class, I asked students to write what they already knew about the Middle Ages. One girl wrote: "The Middle Ages is from about 45-50. It can also be from about 40-55 or younger. People in the Middle Ages can still walk and do activities."

Barbara Gilson

Port Royal, Pennsylvania

When practicing the school play Much Ado About Nothing, the boy who played Claudio kept stumbling over some of Claudio's angry speeches. He had a hard time with one line in particular: "You are more intemperate in your blood than Venus!" One of his more memorable versions: "You are more impotent than Venus! "

Samantha Dunaway

Nome, Alaska

I get very creative responses to test questions at the beginning of the year since much of the material is new to students. The directions for one section of a test asked students to name each polygon. Under the picture of a pentagon, one of my students innocently answered "home plate."

Colleen Wright

Cudahy, Wisconsin

My students are truly from the computer age. Seventhgrader Joshua was writing a report on a great artist. I reminded him several times to indent the first word of each paragraph.

He seemed to ignore me, so I pointed and said, "You must indent or move the first word in about five spaces." He finally looked at me and said, "Oh, you mean tab in!" Sue Langan

Whittier, Califomia was teaching my students a unit on contractions one day. I put several examples on the board and asked the students if they could define what contractions are. One of my fourth graders innocently asked, "Isn't that like when you're going to have a baby or something?"

Kimberly Whitaker

Burley, Idaho

While reading my third graders' daily journal entries. I came upon one that really made me smile. A student wrote, " We took my cat to the vet. He fixed her claws and took out her spades. "

Leslie Wilde

Ketchum, Idaho

A couple of fifth grade girls came into my art room asking for some yam for a project they were doing in homeroom. As they were leaving, I asked about the project. "We're making a diaphragm," one girl answered.

Don't you mean a diorama?" I asked. Yeah, that's it,' she replied.

I giggled to myself about that the rest of the day.

Becky Brandt

Clear Lake, Iowa

During a current events discussion, my seventh grade class and I talked about the conflict between Palestine and Israel and the dispute over the West Bank. My students identified Palestine, Israel, and the West Bank on a map. After about 20 minutes of discussion, one of the students raised his hand and asked, "Are all of these problems over a bank?"

Barbara Poland

Ramsey, New Jersey

I'm a tutor for grades K-1. One of my first grade boys wanted to know if I was a teacher. I said I wasn't and explained I was a tutor. He had the funniest look on his face, then blurted out, "No you're not, I think that you smell just fine!"

Jeanine Layland

Dillingham, Alaska

One day in the sewing room, a seventh grade boy said, "That sucks." Well, I don't allow that kind of language in my room, so I informed the student that he would have to stay after school for detention.

After school I called his home to let his mother know that her son had received a detention that day for using improper language. She said to me, "Well, that sucks. What did he say?" I told her he had said, "That sucks. "

There was dead silence on the phone, then, "He will be sure to serve the detention." Click.

Sharon Pollock

South Lyon, Michigan