WORDS FROM W.W. November 3, 2018
It has been a full week of substitute teaching- one day of 7th Grade Language Arts and then the last four days in 8th Grade Social Studies. I love teaching in a class for a number of days in a row. Next week I’ll have the same 8th Grade Social Studies for four more days.
8th Graders crack me up! They are as diverse as “Jelly Belly” jelly beans, but also with many similarities. They want to be liked and kinda’ cool without having to announce to everyone that they ARE cool! Most come to class not expecting to receive anything but homework and in-class assignments. So I like to do the unexpected with them!
For the 8th Graders on one day we closed class with a quest to find who could create the most stupid question with the answer being “Cream Cheese”. Call it “Dumbed-Down Jeopardy!” The winning stupidest question received a roll of Smarties!
On another day this week a few students were finishing their classroom work early.
“Mr. Wolfe, I’m done. What can I do now?”
“You can study for the test you’ll be taking next Wednesday.” (To tell an 8th Grader that he can study for a test that is a week away is like telling him that he can start preparing for the Graduate Record Exam to get accepted into Grad School.)
A non-verbal facial expression communicates that my idea is lame!
“Or you could read a book.”
“I don’t have a book with me.”
“I’ll take care of that!” Twenty seconds later I come back to his table and put a dictionary in front of him. “Here.”
Confused eyes dart back and forth. “It’s a dictionary!”
“Yes, it is! A mind is a terrible thing to waste…especially the mind of an intelligent 8th grade student like you. Here’s what I want you to do! Start with the “J’s”! I think we may be “J-deficient” in our vocabulary, so expand your understanding for the next few minutes and tell me one word that is like a new discovery for you…okay?” I help him find “J” just in case!
His mouth is wide open and nothing is coming out of it. The other two students at his table who are still working on the classroom assignment are snickering.
Two minutes later another student falsely believes that he’s going to camp-out for the rest of the class period and pop Sweet Tarts as he does nothing.
“All done?”
“Yes, Mr. Wolfe.”
“Okay, well…you can study for the test or read a book that you have.”
“Ahhh, I don’t have a book and I’ve done all the studying I need.”
“Well, that is awesome about the studying aspect of things, but since you’re so advanced I have something else for you to read.”
“Ahhh!”
“I’ll be right back!” A few seconds later I return with the Geographical Dictionary. “Here you go! Start with the ‘K’s’! I don’t think there are many places that we’re familiar with that begin with the letter ‘K’!”
“Huh?”
“An 8th Grade mind is a terrible thing to waste!”
Later on in the day a couple of other students discovered the treasures in “Q” and “X”.
“Mr. Wolfe!” says the boy who is immersed in the letter ‘X’.
“Yes!”
“The word ‘xylo’ indicates something made of wood.”
“Really!”
“Yes! Like xylophone has the different keys made of wood.”
“Wow! I didn’t know that!” He seemed excited by the fact that he shared something with an old guy that wasn’t known.”
The next day another student asked if she could READ the dictionary! And I stood there with my mouth wide open!
Words from WW Blog 