These came when I taught sixth grade. I spoke of Julius Caesar living approximately 2,000 years ago and that he was assassinated when he was stabbed 23 times (at least according to Plutarch and Suetonius.) A young man of 12 years of age asked, “So, is he dead?”
I tried to think it through with him without directly giving him the answer- I try this style as much as possible when I answer questions that should be obvious. “Well, let’s think about what I just reported to you. He was assassinated. Do you understand that word?” He did. “If he was stabbed 23 times, that is very bad, right?” He still was not sure if he was dead. “I also mentioned that it was 2,000 years ago, right? DO people usually live for 2,000 years? You say that your grandma is the oldest person you know and that she is in her 50’s? Do you think that she will live for another 1,950 years?”
“I guess not. So, I am guessing that Caesar is dead, right?”
“Yes, he is dead"😂
Teacher 2:
I asked the grade 4 students, " Who can tell me what they think the vocabulary work treaty means?" One of my brighter boy's raised his hand with excitement and shared, "A treaty is something you give your dog if he is good.
" Who can name the food groups?"
response: " Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and I think the last one is a snack!"
We were having a debate in grade 6 and I started out the lesson asking, "If anyone ever participated in a debate prior to today?" No response ..... I asked, "Who can share what the think the word debate means or if they have ever heard the word used before?"
response: "Isn't that something the fish eat?" DE BATE. He was dead serious.
A kindergarten student turned in a paper using the spelling word pen in a sentence. The pen is black. was written : The penis black. He had some difficulty with spacing the letters. Adorable. Ahh the innocence of children.
Teacher 3:
A student insisted that she had a better solution than mine to the question how much 64/16 is: she went to the blackboard and crossed out the 6 in the numerator and the 6 in the denominator.
“You see?” she said to my astounded face, “that's 4!”
The class was obviously laughing , but this student was damn serious. Instead of arguing with her, I said calmly: “you know what, she's right. You see, if you take 95/19, for example, we can just reduce 9 and 9, and there you have it: 5.”
Now it was the students’ turn to look surprised, and I continued the lesson as if nothing had happened.
When the lesson ended, the student came to me and whispered with the empathy of someone who just saved you from public disgrace: “you know, 95/19 doesn't have to be 5. It can also be 9.”
