Teacher Talk Thursday - Show & Tell

Today over at Snyder Stories, Abby wants us to just talk about ANYTHING teacher related. She said it could be a great lesson, a cool project, a funny story, ANYTHING.

I am going to go with a funny story. Being an elementary teacher means I have plenty of funny stories to tell, but there is one that tops them all. The best part is, when I was interviewing for my fourth grade job here in CT, the interview committee asked me to share a funny story. I shared this same story with them. I warned them that it was inappropriate, so now you have also been warned. So here it goes...

It was my second year teaching. I was teaching 2nd grade at an inner city school in Lexington, KY. It was the second or third day of school. I had all the students gathered on the floor around chart paper during Reading. We were reviewing blends. We started with "sl" and students were raising their hands giving me words that started with that blend. I would then write the word on the chart paper and once we had a good list, I read each word and the students repeated after me. We then moved onto a different blend and repeated the process.

Our final blend was "bl". Students were doing a great job coming up with "bl" words. Then little Austin (I still remember his name) raised his hand and said, "balloon". I told him balloon started with "b" but not "bl". A few words later, Austin raised his hand again and again gave an incorrect word. The third time he raised his hand, I was a little hesitant to call on him, but I wanted him to get it right. This is how the conversation (and my thoughts) went:

Me: Yes, Austin?

Austin: Blowjob.

(At this point my eyes probably bugged out of my head, but I was able to keep my composure. I also had an aide in my my room. She was sitting behind all the students writing in a notebook and immediately looked up).

Me: Austin, do you mean blowdryer? Like what girls use to dry their hair?

(I was proud of my quick thinking!)

Austin: No. Blowjob.

Me: Austin, I think you mean blowdryer. It's how girls dry their hair.

Austin: Yeah. That's what I meant.

I don't know why he ended up going with my suggestion, but I was glad he did. And yes, this was a 2nd grader! I ended up adding blowdryer to our list of "bl" words. As I read the list out loud and had the students repeat each word, it was so hard not to laugh as I got closer to reading "blowdryer".

By lunchtime, the story had made its way through all the teachers in our building. I did end up talking with our school counselor to check on his home situation. I wasn't sure why a 2nd grader would even know that word. It turned out that he lived with just his dad and an older brother, so we assumed he just heard it somewhere.

But at least he finally a "bl" blend right!

Can you believe I shared this story during a job interview?!?! I had already been working at the school as a long-term sub and was interviewing for a full-time position, so I knew all the staff. I don't think I would've shared the same story if I wasn't already familiar with all of them. But I did get the job!