Kids Say The Darndest Things

Kids really do say the darndest things. I was amidst teaching a division lesson, (dividing by Threes to be precise), when I asked if there were any questions about what I had just taught. Nick raised his hand and said, "Do you live in Manhattan?" "Nick," I asked, Does your question have anything to do with what I'm talking about right now?" "No," he said. Okay, (I rephrased), "Does anyone have any questions that have to do with what I just explained in math class?" Nick raised his hand again, "Yes Nick," I said. Nick asked, "Do you go to Crunch gym? My mom goes to Crunch, and she has really nice abs, and you have really nice abs."

"Thank you Nick," No I don't go to Crunch gym, but again--that doesn't really have anything to do with dividing by threes. (Also: it kind of cracked me up that Nick, an eight year old boy, knows about abs, and more specifically about his mom's abs. In addition, I am not exactly coming to school sporting my 1996 belly tee's, so, this compliment about my abs is merely a hypothetical one).

We were practicing counting aloud by 3's. I was explaining various strategies that we could use. I asked if there were any questions. Chase raised his hand. "Yes, Chase." Chase began speaking, "You look like someone I know, she's kinda tall, wears leggings a lot, and has sort of puffy hair, like you." (Puffy hair=frizz=Give me a god damn break, it's humid today!) "Chase, that's really interesting, but let's try to make comments that relate to what we are talking about in math class, okay?"

As math class was drawing to a close, I began passing out homework for tonight. I asked if any of the students had questions pertaining to their math homework. Emily raised her hand and announced that for Halloween she wanted to dress up as a frog. "Okay, Emily. That sounds like a really good idea, but maybe we can talk about it again in October."