Student Teaching Anecdotes

Since I was the first hire of the season for BSSD, there is a fair amount of waiting time between my letter of intent and the actual contract.  Thus, the lack of posting during the past month.  I am really anxious to negotiate the contract and find out exactly what village I will live in . . . but that probably won't happen for 3 weeks or so.  Until then, I have a few student teaching stories to tide everyone over.  

My first student teaching assignment is with the third grade in Mustang, OK and I absolutely adore it.  The students are so funny!  I found out on my first day there that they had just finished their polar unit, and so they were very interested in my future job.  They drilled me for nearly 20 minutes on what life will be like with BSSD, but I didn't mind.  This is because  a) I like talking about it and b) the third graders came up with better questions than most of my adult friends have asked.  No offense, of course.  ;-)

My favorite set of questions during this Alaska question-and-answer shows the intelligence of their questioning.  It is as follows:

Student One:  "So, do you know how to snowmobile?"

Me:  "No."

Student Two:  "Do you know how to ski?"

Me:  "No."

Student Three:  "Do you have a big coat?"

Me:  "No."

Student Four:  "Don't you think that's a problem?"

Me:  "Yes."

Adults have asked me questions like 'Will you live in an igloo?' and 'So, there's no where to buy Twinkies?'  My students ask me questions like 'What happens if you run out of food?' and 'How safe are the planes?'    We should all think like children.  

This next conversation has absolutely nothing to do with Alaska, but I will post it anyway because I still find it hilarious.  When I am not teaching a lesson, I sit at my desk and listen to student conversations.  They are so interesting to observe!  Here is my favorite student conversation to date: 

Backstory:  I came in late to this conversation, but somehow a pair of third grade boys had approached the topic of animal classification.  

Boy Student One:  "We are not mammals."

Boy Student Two:  "Yes, we are!  Mammals have hair and give live birth.  We're mammals.   We don't lay eggs."

Boy Student One:  "We don't give live birth."

Boy Student Two:  "Yes, we do.  We're mammals."

Boy Student One:  "No, the womens give live birth.  They're mammals."

Boy Student Two:  "Then what are we?!?"

Boy Student One:  "I don't know . . . I don't know."

Part of me wanted to interject and fill them in so that they don't go through life thinking they are some kind of alien-like creature . . . but I found it all too funny to speak, so I opted for saying nothing.  

I hope everyone that reads this is doing well.  To all of the BSSD people that have found my blog, hello and I can't wait to meet you all!  Leave me a message/link to your blog and we can talk!  I think all my friends/family here are tiring of Alaska talk, so I would enjoy an email conversation just as much as you might.  Plus, very soon I will have all sorts of moving questions that you won't want to miss out on.  ;-)  I figure I'll be up there in just about 5 months, and that is kind of blowing my mind.  

At the very latest, the next post will be about my contract.  Stay safe, everyone!

-Megan