Well, never a dull moment in 1st grade.
A little background ... on Monday of this week, we were having a very difficult time getting through math. Everyone was very chatty. My repeated attempts to quiet everyone were failing miserably. Consequently, my voice began to rise. A voice from the front of the class called out (without a quiet hand, of course), "Mrs. Jensen are you angry?" I explained that I wasn't angry, just frustrated because we really needed to get our work done before we could enjoy recess. Fast forward to Friday...
On Thursday, my four struggling readers were with the resource specialist while the rest of the class read a story. When the four students returned, the five of us sat on the carpet and were in the process of reading the story together while the other students completed some worksheet pages about the story... when suddenly... the class tattle-tale stands up and shouts across the room, (names have been changed) "Fred just said F***!" He did not spell it. He did not mouth it. He did not say "the f-word." No, he SHOUTED the word in its entirety across the room. And just in case, some students were busy diligently working and somehow missed the big announcement, Fred then stood up and shouted, "I did not say F***!"
I raced across the room and pulled the two of them aside to get to the bottom of the problem. They were both talking over each other to tell their stories and continuing to use the word in its entirety. I explained them to that "That is NOT okay" and never to use that word again even to relate their tales. After some questioning and investigating, it turns out that these two boys were sitting at their round table with one girl. The girl and the class tattle-talel were chatting and Fred told them to, "Shut up. I'm trying to do my work." Well, the girl did not appreciate being told to shut up, so she made up the story about Fred dropping an f-bomb and relayed it to the class tattle-tale, knowing full well that the tale would be conveyed to the teacher. Pretty manipulative for a 6 year old. As I'm dealing with this, a voice rings out from across the room, "Mrs. Jensen, are you frustrated again?" "No, Isaac. This time I am angry. We do not use words like that at school." As I was firmly expressing this to the little girl, big fat tears coursed down her cheeks. At least she's remorseful. I can only imagine the dinner table conversations that evening, but--as far as I know-- no parents have called to complain yet.
3 comments:
Sherrie, I'm always impressed by your story telling capabilities. Maybe you should be an author instead of a teacher, but I guess you make a really great teacher too. EmmaLee says that she wishes she could have heard you tell the story in person because that would be even more entertaining.
You're very kind. I really wish you two had been here to tell in person, not just because you are so very fun to hang out with, but also because it's a lot easier to talk than to type. Love you guys!
Wow! even I never experienced that in Elementary. kids didn't even start cursing untill 5th grade, but that was mainly "what the H***" I didn't even know that word existed untill I heard that word 10 billion times on the first day of middle school.
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