Spring is in the Air

Spring always makes my students do strange things...

Today I got to experience 2 of my students (who are my fit throwers - i.e. tantrums) get bitten by the love bug. I normally deter my students from this. I tell them third graders do not go out because "going out" means you are going out on a date and third graders are not old enough to go on dates. (...stepping down from my soap box...) But today I couldn't step up onto that normal soap box of mine....because this odd couple of mine made me smirk/giggle/laugh out loud.

It started out with my girls in my class teaching J. to dance yesterday - to prepare him for the dance that we had at school today.

Now J. is a petite quiet boy. Someone who is much too hard on himself and gets overwhelmed very easily. When he gets too overwhelmed, he bangs hims head and growls. (Proud to say, it has been a while since has done either one in my classroom.)

K. is the girl who decided to practice dance moves with J. (with the help of all my other girls)

K. is a stout girl. She is a very smart girl and uses that intelligence to get her way...normally by throwing tantrums. If you don't give into her tantrums, she increases the volume and the commotion until you (as the adult) break and she "wins". She has learned, I don't break easily and she doesn't normally "win".

So here we are today...at the school dance. This dance was in celebration that the MAP test was over... and we had all survived.

K. and J. enter onto the dance floor. They get into position and he spins her out. Her arms go out like she is in a performance...like she is competing on Dancing with the Stars. Then he spins her back in. He even goes as far as to dip her. He gets down on one knee and bows to her. She curtsies to him. They never separate. They spend the whole hour together.

Later, one of the other third grade teachers commented to J. about how lovely he danced. Then she asked him, "J., are you and K. friends? I've never seen you hang out before."

J.- "Well... apparently, she is my girlfriend."
Mrs. W. - "Apparently? Why do you say that?"
J. - "...Cause she informed me of it when we were sitting up in the bleachers."
Mrs. W. - "Oh!...and are you okay with that?"
J. - "yeah...I guess so..."

When Mrs. W. told me this, I again had to giggle.
I said, "You know, they are both my fit throwers."
in response she said, "Well, maybe they will have normal children."


Yes... we, as teachers, sometimes have a sick sense of humor...it's how we make it through our day.