It ain't easy being green
Cosmo and Wanda are doing well. They've adjusted to classroom life...I think. I don't know, they're turtles. They don't show a lot of emotion.
I wasn't sure how my students would react to the turtles. I assumed they'd be rather indifferent, as they're teenagers. Oh, no. My homeroom students, eighth graders, turned into little kids before my eyes.
"WE get to feed them every day, WE are your homeroom, don't let ANYBODY ELSE feed them, OK Mrs. Erin?"
OK, children, you can feed the turtles. That can be your special job.
Today Cosmo and Wanda caused a bit of a scandal in 8th grade English class, though. Their daily routine consists of looking around, sitting in the water, sitting on the bridge over the water (trouble-free water, thanks) and sitting in a stack. When I bought them, they were in a tank with about 10 other turtles, and this seemed to be how the turtles preferred to be...in a pile. Our kids tend to be this way here, when we take them to the multimedia room to watch movies, they're happiest in a pile.
Still, two turtles in a pile looks kind of...scandalous...in the eyes of teenagers.
"Um, Mrs. Erin? What...what are the turtles doing?" one of my quieter 8th grade girls asked very sweetly as I walked past her desk.
I glanced at the tank and happened to see that Cosmo and Wanda were stacked, one on top of the other, looking mildly angry about things as usual.
The quiet girl's considerably less quiet friend piped up. "She knows what she thinks they're doing, Mrs. Erin, she told me! She said..."
She was cut off by a squawk from her friend, whose eyes were HUGE and whose cheeks were turning bright red.
I assured the girls that the turtles just seemed to like to sit that way for some reason and not to worry, they weren't doing anything inappropriate.
Rampant rumors of turtle sex quickly spread across the room, and suddenly there was a crowd around the tank.
The quiet girl overcame her shyness and became indignant on behalf of the turtles.
"You guys, don't WATCH them! That's embarrassing for them!" she admonished her classmates.
"Come on, you guys, how would you feel?" she argued.
Because that's a great question to pose to a room of middle school boys.
Teaching is a lot of things, but it is never, ever boring.
I wasn't sure how my students would react to the turtles. I assumed they'd be rather indifferent, as they're teenagers. Oh, no. My homeroom students, eighth graders, turned into little kids before my eyes.
"WE get to feed them every day, WE are your homeroom, don't let ANYBODY ELSE feed them, OK Mrs. Erin?"
OK, children, you can feed the turtles. That can be your special job.
Today Cosmo and Wanda caused a bit of a scandal in 8th grade English class, though. Their daily routine consists of looking around, sitting in the water, sitting on the bridge over the water (trouble-free water, thanks) and sitting in a stack. When I bought them, they were in a tank with about 10 other turtles, and this seemed to be how the turtles preferred to be...in a pile. Our kids tend to be this way here, when we take them to the multimedia room to watch movies, they're happiest in a pile.
Still, two turtles in a pile looks kind of...scandalous...in the eyes of teenagers.
"Um, Mrs. Erin? What...what are the turtles doing?" one of my quieter 8th grade girls asked very sweetly as I walked past her desk.
I glanced at the tank and happened to see that Cosmo and Wanda were stacked, one on top of the other, looking mildly angry about things as usual.
The quiet girl's considerably less quiet friend piped up. "She knows what she thinks they're doing, Mrs. Erin, she told me! She said..."
She was cut off by a squawk from her friend, whose eyes were HUGE and whose cheeks were turning bright red.
I assured the girls that the turtles just seemed to like to sit that way for some reason and not to worry, they weren't doing anything inappropriate.
Rampant rumors of turtle sex quickly spread across the room, and suddenly there was a crowd around the tank.
The quiet girl overcame her shyness and became indignant on behalf of the turtles.
"You guys, don't WATCH them! That's embarrassing for them!" she admonished her classmates.
"Come on, you guys, how would you feel?" she argued.
Because that's a great question to pose to a room of middle school boys.
Teaching is a lot of things, but it is never, ever boring.
posted by Erin @ 8:27 AM
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