Kids say the Darndest Things...

SO I was teaching my sixth grade class today and I had decided to give them a pop quiz to see if they were ready for their final semester test. I figured they had forgotten a few things over the Christmas holiday so I needed to know what to focus on for the review.

Now I have this one little boy in my class, he is precious but he doesn’t ever speak English in class. Mind you, I’ve tried, and I can mayyybe get a word out here or there, but he usually just sits quietly, listening and writing but never wanting to actually speak.  As I was passing out the practice test, he looks at me with huge eyes, like I’m passing out his death sentence. “TEST?” he asks me, looking up in horror.  “Yes, a practice one. Make sure you read the questions carefully!” I said as I continued walking up the aisle with the tests.  The entire class was silent, when I hear “SHIT!!” from my little mute.

It took everything in me not to burst out laughing.  This little boy, 6^th grade, never speaking a word in English then throwing out a curse word in panic as a result of my practice test. I could feel his pain, understood his desperation, but gathered up the strength within myself to hold in my laughter and explain that what he said was a bad word and was not allowed in my class.  He turned around, sighed, and started the dreaded task ahead of him.

Just another day on the job.  :)