I'm working with a group of six and seven year olds again this week. Each day they find a treasure trunk with a clue in it to the story that they’ll tell at the end of the week. Yesterday I filled it with packing peanuts and a tiny astronaut magnet. Before I open it, I tell them to use their imagination when they see what’s in the truck. I also tell them I’m going to open the trunk very quickly and then shut it so we can talk about what they saw. I make sure everyone understands and then I open the trunk.
There are “Ooohs.” There are “Aaahs.” I shut the trunk. I ask them, “What do you see?” I expect them to say that they see the Milky Way or ice balls or something space related. But they don’t. Because they’re six and seven and “almost eight.” And they think I’m crazy. “PACKING PEANUTS!” they shout in unison. “Well, yes,” I say. “They are packing peanuts. But what could they be? Use your imagination.” But before they can guess one boy raises his hand and earnestly tells me, face dead serious as he is backing away from the trunk. “I’m allergic to peanuts. So, I probably shouldn’t touch them.” I should have quit the day right there and then and gone on home because you’re supposed to leave the stage after the punch line. I mean, who keeps talking after the mic drop?
2 Comments
Q.D
7/18/2015 07:24:43 pm
I have had that moment as a teacher, a kid desperately trying to hand me a foodstuff i am allergic to (he was unpacking props)
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ej
7/18/2015 11:30:40 pm
This past week I had a sweet kid who loved to hug me - right after picking her nose or grabbing her crotch. I had to disinfect my entire body daily.
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AuthorMy name is ej. I'm a girl. I say that because with the short hair and the short initials, folks aren't always sure. More brilliant insights to who I am in About me Archives
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