Tissues, pencils, and erasers (oh my!)

In some ways it feels like we've been in school for a long time, but in other ways it's hard to believe that we already have three weeks completed! I was happy to overhear this conversation at the end of the day today:

"I can't believe it's the end of the day already!"

"I know! School days go so fast." 

Nothing too eventful has happened - just the everyday routine of a third grade classroom.

Much to my chagrin, I've called four of my students by their siblings' names. One time I didn't even realize it until they looked at me confused and said, "Who's that?" 

We've been averaging using a box of tissues a day. This doesn't seem like a good sign for the upcoming cold season. I guess maybe that's why one of the girls decided she should have her own box of tissues at her desk. One day in the middle of Bible class, this same girl got out of her seat, went to her backpack and began hanging a trash bag on the side of her desk. I'm glad she feels at home in our classroom, but I'm not quite sure that we have enough room for every student to set up individual tissue boxes and trash cans. 

It seems like having sharp pencils ready to go is always a battle (as I'm sure any teacher will tell you). One day I noticed one of the boys writing with a tiny little stub which he could hardly hold. I let is slide, but later when he had poor handwriting I suggested he use a bigger pencil. He paused, pulled out this huge pencil, and said, "This is the only bigger one I have."

One of the first days of school I noticed that this same boy had little pieces of erasers in his desk, and I told him he needed to throw them away or put them in his backpack. He looked at me so earnestly and said, "But I'm going to use them!" I relented. A week or so later, I happened to see the inside of his desk. I didn't realize he had quite so many pieces! But to his credit, they have not been making a mess, so he can continue to use them. :)

I'm happy to report that my students also have a sense of humor. One day one of the boys forgot to sign back into the classroom after going to the bathroom, and when another student pointed it out to him he replied, "I thought I would relax in the bathroom for a couple of hours." 

During reading class one day, I asked the class how many letters are in the alphabet. Of course they all chorused, "Twenty-six!" I continued the lesson when one boy raised his hand. I called on him and he said, "Actually, there are only 25 letters in the alphabet, because the angel said, 'Noel.'"

And my humor today came from (of course) a language worksheet. We've been practicing combining two sentences into one. The two sentences were:

Bob ate bear meat. Jim ate bear meat.

So one student wrote:

Bob ate bear meat and Jim. 

Maybe it's because I'm tired, but I'm still giggling about that one.