Wednesday's Words from Mrs. Johnson's Class

One of the joys of teaching is that you never know what your students will say. You may be steaming mad one second, and doubled over with laughter the next. Today, is one example. I have always had moments when I thought to myself, "I MUST write that down." But, I never do. So, today, when I had a moment...I decided I'd start putting them on my blog for you to enjoy!

I was teaching about rounding today. I started out by asking the question: "I'm going shopping, and I need to keep up with how much money I'm spending. I can't take a calculator. I'm buying ten things." I gave examples of how much they might cost, like...$1.99, $12.75, etc. I posed the question to the students, "What can I do to quickly find out how much money I'm spending?" Obviously, the correct answer was "round/estimate." I would have taken a number of answers. But, instead, one of my cutest little boys raised his hand. Let me set this up for you. Charles is probably not even four feet tall, and has the cutest little disposition. He is a bright student. Anyway, he raised his hand. All attention was on him! When I called on him (anticipating the right answer from my super class), he picked up his pencil and said, "Could you tell me those numbers again?" Of course, I smiled - trying so hard not to laugh. The class was giggling, and he had no clue why. I just smiled and said, "Well, it really doesn't matter how much. I just want to know HOW I can do it." I couldn't even remember the numbers myself!


As I was setting up for a lesson, and the class was transitioning to get ready for math...Jo'Neshia said something that I couldn't hear. There was no one around, so I know she wasn't talking TO anyone. So, I was getting ready to get onto her for not raising her hand to speak to me and asked, "What did you say?" She quietly replied, "I said you are pretty." She was just smiling sweetly.


There are certainly days when I wonder, "Why in the world did I decide to be a 'miracle-worker' (Van Winkle's word for teacher)?" It doesn't take long to have one of these cute, funny, or sweet comments to bring me back to my passion. I love these kids, and it amazes me each year how I can love each class as much (or more) than the one before. I always have a fear of "disliking" my class. This has never been a problem for me. TRUST ME...there have been opportunities to "dislike" my classes. But, like my principal always says, "These parents are sending the best that they have." As a teacher, in my mission field, I will do the best I can for the ones I have. I am so thankful for the job God has entrusted me with. Gotta love it!