Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Family Life is way more fun the second time around

Tonight I emptied my pockets.  In them I found a set of question word flash cards (who, what where, etc), a half-used sheet of smiley face GLITTER stickers (those are a HOT commodity), and a pencil cap eraser. Some may call it bribery.  I call it positive reinforcement.  Either way, there's no doubt I am a teacher.

In other news, to those who were worried, rest assured that fortune tellers have not gone out of style.  In fact, they are in full-force in fourth grade.  And I give mad props to the fourth graders who try valiantly to convince me that they are educational.  Mm hmm.  [Please envision almost-perfected-you've-got-to-be-kidding-me teacher look]

Lastly, today was also the first day of Family Life.  I stayed in with the fourth grade boys, just for kicks.  Oh what I would give to have a video clip to share!!!  Today's lesson was a juicy exposé on hygiene.  Only one of the thirty boys actually knew what the word hygiene meant before the lesson began.  Always a good sign.  

After a rousing and question-filled session, my boys now know that they must shower "DAILY.  That means every day."  They also need to start thinking about using deodorant to which one lad offered a pitch for Axe.  The guidance counselor quickly retorted by strongly encouraging a LIGHT application.  And it doesn't work on dirty bodies.  Just on clean ones.  The fourth grade boys were also very saddened to learn they must wear fresh clothes each day, including socks and underwear.  "What about boxers?"  "Yes, even boxers.  Whatever type of underwear you choose to wear.  You must change it."

I for one, am overjoyed at the timeliness of this session.  The levels of Oust needed to conquer a classroom of post-recess fourth grade boys in spring borders on toxic.

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