It's Coming....

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You can tell when it's getting to be the end of October not just by the turning leaves on the trees but by the contents of a teacher's pockets.  Distracting items end up getting taken away year-round (rubber bands, unbent paperclips, and erasers constitute the bulk of the confiscated goods), but I knew we were getting close to Halloween last week when I ended up with a stick-on mustache in my pocket by the end of the day.

Lunchtime conversations and Morning Meeting shares also turn towards Halloween, with kids wanting to tell each other all the details of their supremely scary costume or sharing their recently-picked pumpkin.  Rodney hauled his into class the other day to display at Morning Meeting, where Donivan was particularly impressed with its resemblance to his own. 

"I have the same kind of pumpkin.  With the stem" Donivan told Rodney, leaving me wondering just how much variety Donivan thinks is out there in the world of pumpkin options.  The stem is...rather a defining feature of a pumpkin, but clearly he found it quite the unique coincidence.

I am hoping we can hold it together throughout the day today and manage to learn at least something despite everyone internally counting down the minutes until the costumes can go on and the trick-or-treating can begin! 

A Tear Saying Sorry

It's happened to all of us.  Something unfortunate slips out of your brain, bypasses the better judgement filters, and shoots out of your mouth.

Something unfortunate....like a curse word. 

Or maybe it didn't so much slip out of your brain, but was enthusiastically shoved down the pipeline.  And maybe the filters were disengaged after you employed the manual override because you wanted the curse word to rocket down the chute like a greased pig, fly out of your mouth and explode in the air like a Fourth of July firework, to the delight of your classmates as you basked in their "oohs" and "aahs."

Once that impressive firework explodes, though, projecting its dazzling bits of light into the sky, there really is no way to pack it back into your mouth and maneuver it back up the pipeline.

Maybe I'm going a little overboard here with the figurative language, but the other day, in quite spectacular and audible fashion, Mariah cursed.

Later, away from the class, she wrote an apology and stamped it with proof of her wholehearted repentance.  The paper is wrinkled where what seems to be a rather juicy tear splashed the note.  A label clearly identifies the wet splotch. 

I can just imagine Mariah thinking, "It's not just me saying sorry and hoping you accept my apology, but also my tear is saying sorry, too."

Sheep Butt

In trying to explain how the world works to third graders, I often want to convey that there's just some stuff that almost never would make sense. 

Me giving another teacher miniature clothes for her birthday?  Probably not.
A student's eye popping out and rolling away?  Clearly no.

And just as a general piece of advice, the answer to any question you're wondering about is never--or maybe very rarely--going to be, 'sheep butt.'  So if you find yourself thinking, "Did they just say that violin bow was made out of the rear end of a fluffy farm animal?"--go with 'No.'

Image: Microsoft

We attended a great music performance today, and they showed how all of the instruments worked and what they were made of.  The violinist explained what the hairs of her bow were made of, but Allegra didn't quiet hear.

"Did she say 'sheep butt'?" she asked. 

"No!  Of course not!  Why would anything in the entire world or history of the planet be made of a sheep's butt?  Sheep butt creations do not exist."  I wanted to tell Allegra.

What the performer actually said was that violin bow hairs were historically made of sheep GUT.  Yeah--gut, not butt.  It's totally logical that someone would reach inside of a sheep, pull out its guts, and fashion a part for a musical instrument from said guts.

But a sheep butt--never!  Such notions!  Guts, though?  Certainly.  The world works like that.