reminiscence

i recently came across a journal i kept while student teaching second graders. turns out second graders are pretty funny too...


when sitting on the rug, our class needs constant reminders to "sit on their pockets." this way, everyone around them can see as well. the word pockets has evolved into a euphemism for bottom. evidence of this was chris, who sniffed the air around him and made a very unpleasant face and then declared, "it smells like somebody's pockets in here!" this caused quite a stir, during which ulysses said frantically, "it's not me! i always wipe my bottom!"


we were reading a ramona book and had just gotten to a part where ramona wishes she was grown up. i asked the students if they ever felt that way. they all said yes and i asked them why they wanted to be grown up. they gave the usual answers of being able to stay up late and play with their friends all the time. spencer, however, said that he wanted to be grown up so he could be a cannibal. "what?!" i exclaimed, thinking i had misunderstood him. he said again, very clearly and casually, "a cannibal." i asked him, "spencer, do you know what a cannibal is?" his reply was, "it's when you are responsible for yourself and your actions."