Reminiscing about Students

Story #1
Our class had been experiencing much strife because of boys not following the rules while playing the Star Wars game at recess.
I wanted to encourage peace, patience, and discussing problems with one another in order to solve them. And so, we took some time to discuss the issues after one quite dramatic recess.

The plaintiff explained, "You guys make up the rules, but you don't follow them. You don't die when you say we have to die. You need to folllow the rules and play fair."

Defendant, "I have ALL the Star Wars movies. My DAD knows all about the Star Wars games. This guy only gets to watch them on TV or when we have a sleep over. I have the information. Do YOU have the information? Do YOU know the rules? Show me! Prove it! Do YOU have the information? No, no you don’t."

At this point I realized that the "talking it out" approach was too girly. I gave consequences, we set up rules, we moved on.


Story #2
To set the stage: we had been talking about missionaries for awhile and Mrs. Austin (who was a missionary with her husband and family in Indonesia) had just done a chapel on being missionaries. I think it was during phonics, perhaps history or even math, when suddenly the subject turned and connected to telling others about Jesus EVEN when we go into the grocery store.
I told them I try to go in with a smile on my face (I demonstrated) rather than a frown (I demonstrated) to show the people at the store Jesus, etc etc.

Suddenly a child called out, "so we should go out and preach the gospel to THEM, Miss Martin?!"

Whoa! To hear that phrase, "preach the gospel" come out of one of THEIR mouths -- it was crazy, and a little shocking. I hope he/they will mean it some day.


Story #3
It was snack time. The students were at their desks, enjoying their snack, little conversations were going around the classroom and I was listening to one lively boy tell a story.
Story Teller, "Guess what Miss Martin?!
Teacher, "Yes sir?"
Story Teller, "I once went fishing with my dad. I am a good fisherman, but I didn't catch a fish. Guess what I caught?!"
Teacher, "A shoe."
Story Teller, "NO! It was a SHARK!"
I raised my eyes at this statement. Students' heads turned to listen in on this conversation. His grin grew.
Teacher, "Really? A shark?! What did you do with him?"
Story Teller, "I took my dad's gun and BLAMP!, I blasted him away and he fell back into the water."

Story #4
It was the week after spring break. Before the break we had done a Passover meal. It was snack time and one student thought another student's snack looked mighty tasty.
"Milton, do you need snack?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure? Your mom usually packs you a snack."
"Oh yes. I am sure. Can I have some of Jenny's snack?"
"No, you can't have Jenny's snack. You can have matsa."
Milton chewed on this idea for a moment. He had tasted the matsa before.
"Ahh...I'll check to see if my mom packed me a snack."
The snack neglected boy then went to his cubby and returned with loads of food found in the depths of his lunchbox.
"Guess my mom DID pack me a snack."


Story #5 -- Miscellanious Quotes
Here are some of my favorite statements from the year.

"I am coloring the flesh. See, this is the flesh. Flesh!! FLESH!!!"

"I put the brown on there and now it's showing through the purple. Just incredible!"

"For crying out loud! I don't have to cut it out."
(Looking at me) "Do I have to cut it out?"

Student 1 kicked Josh's foot, "sorry."
Josh, "Oh no, it was all my fault."
"No, I was wrong."

Holding up the bottom half of a broken eraser, "Another victim of being bitten off by Luke; sad case."

"Just so you know, I use that very same gum for my gumball machine. I know because of the 'Double Bubble' crown on the top and the big circle."

"Whenever my mom gets a new vacuum my Grandma B and I get crayons and decorate the box however we want to and then I get to play in it for a really long time."

"I am going to a REAL salon to get my hair cut."
"Oh, a REAL salon? What's a fake salon?"
"Kid's Cuts. That's where I went before. That's a fake salon."
The next day -- with the new locks:
"I went to a real stylist and they had sinks to wash your hair and I got my hair washed there too! It was great!!"

"On Saturday we got to do the funnest thing -- we made a secret hideout with my friend's new oven box. We put it out by the woods and got to play in it. And even when it rained really hard -- it didn't even get wet!"

Boy: "Who is that? A Barbie?"
Girl: "It's TAYLOR SWIFT -- a TEENage singer."
Girl: "She lived on a tree farm and then she became a STAR." Speaking matter-of-factly, she then turned to allow the air to brush through her hair.