Inkblots

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April 01, 2005

Elementary Day...Again

I'm out of the March PhotoQuest. [Sorry, Flip! :(] It just didn't happen in March--my camera needs batteries and I kept forgetting to purchase them. But you can still check out the other PhotoQuest blogs on Flip's site. Just click on their links in the sidebar.

I do, however, have some stories from yesterday's time at the elementary school.

Me: Hi, Kimberly! Will you play some counting games with me?
Kimberly (kindergartner): Yay! I wuv when I get to pway games wiff you. But I have a pwobwem today.
Me: Oh, no! What kind of problem?
Kimberly: Toots.
Me: Toots? (thinking maybe she's still misarticulating something)
Kimberly: Yeah, toots.
Me: What are toots? (now slapping hand for not considering the obvious early childhood euphemism for gas)
Kimberly *passing gas loudly*: Toots wike dose.

Now onto 4th grader Quentez, who I don't work with but I know from when I worked in Math Club last semester.
Me (in hallway en route to the preschool class): Hey, Quentez. What's up?
Quentez: You got any batteries?
Me: No...sorry. What do you need batteries for?
Quentez: I got this new Gameboy in my pocket. But I need batteries.
Me: I can't help you out with the batteries. Why did you bring your Gameboy to school? I would worry that it would get stolen?
Quentez: No, dude, I already stole it from somebody else.
Quentez *suddenly realizes his confession and starts stammering* Um, er, whew, um, I mean, I got it from my brother. It's new and it was still in the box but it was under his bed.
Me: Your brother? But he doesn't know you have it?
Quentez: No, I just took it from his hiding spot. He hadn't even opened it yet.
Me: Let's go talk to your teacher, OK?
I walked with Quentez back to his classroom, then talked with his teacher (a man I don't know) and left the situation in the teacher's responsibility (after all, I'm paid to tutor, not handle things. I'm taking a break from being the one in charge). I saw Quentez's teacher later in the hallway and asked how things turned out. Mr. Hillman said, "oh, it's no big deal. His brother was hiding it from Quentez to give it to him for his birthday next week. It's Quentez's anyway. He just got his birthday present a week early.

Once I was in the preschool special ed class, I worked with Devonte, a little guy who doesn't talk at all. I was helping during his art time, when his group was looking at a picture with Blue from Blue's Clues and counting them, then gluing the number of Blues next to the line. Devonte was more interested in carefully examining Blue, especially when he discovered that I'd say what body part he was pointing to and then ask him where that part was on his body.
Me: That's Blue's ear. Where's your ear?
Devonte: *pointing to his ear.*
Me: Yay! Where's Miss Anna's ear?
Devonte: *moving my hair and pointing to my ear*
Me: *clapping hands* Yes! What next?
Devonte: *pointing to Blue's tail*
Me: That's Blue's tail! Where's Devonte's tail?
Devonte: *grinning and pointing to his rear end.
Me: Hooray! What next?
Devonte: *pointing to Blue's nose.*
Me: Blue's nose. Where's your nose?
Devonte: *points to nose*
Me: Good job! Where's Miss Anna's nose?
Devonte: *starts to point to my nose but then inserts his finger into my nose* DAH!!
Me: *pulling Devonte's hand out of my nostril* Um, yeah, that's Miss Anna's nose. Let's go wash your hands.

In the third grade classroom, the kids were reading their science textbook. The teacher told the kids that Jupiter has clouds of acid over it.
Teacher: You all know what acid is, right?
Ricardo *who happens to be the smart kid in the class*: Yeah. When you puke, you throw up acid.
Class: Ew!! *looking at teacher to see if Ricardo is correct*
Teacher: Yeah, Ricardo, you do puke acid when you puke. But this is another kind of acid. There are different kinds.
Ricardo: Maybe so, but puke acid is the worst. Have you ever puked acid out your nose?
Class: Ew!
Teacher: Um, let's get back to the solar system.

But my favorite part of the day was reading with Conaquia. We read together quite often, since she's a second grader with early kindergarten reading abilities. Because of her reading level, she reads very easy books that have descriptive pictures to go along with the "Go, boy! Run fast!" text. Conaquia had chosen a book about a dragon on a picnic. At the end of the book, the dragon shot fireworks through his nose. Of course, it's up to the reader to notice the picture because the text certainly doesn't support it. Conaquia didn't seem to notice, so I pointed it out to her.
Me: Did you see Dragon? Look what he's doing with his nose!
Conaquia: *smiling but not responding*
Me: (hoping for some extra language stimulation) What's he doing?
Conaquia: He's, he's, he's, um...blowing his nose.
Me: Yeah, he's blowing his nose, but what's coming out?
Conaquia: Um, rainbow snot?
Me: No, silly. Look again. He's shooting fireworks out of his nose!
Conaquia: Oh! I see! Dude, that's hot.
Me: That's hot? I guess fireworks would be hot, huh?
Conaquia: No, I mean "that's hot" like Paris Hilton says it.
Me: Oh, like Paris Hilton.
Conaquia: Yeah, she's hot. And tight.
Me: Right...hot and tight. Hmm.

Posted by Anna at April 1, 2005 02:42 PM

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Comments

Posted by: Mitsuko at April 1, 2005 09:31 PM

Posted by: Flip at April 4, 2005 07:06 AM

Posted by: Lindsey at April 4, 2005 05:20 PM

Posted by: Christopher at April 4, 2005 08:59 PM