On science...

"Science is pretty easy once you think about it. I just don't like the thinking part..."
~Light of my Life

You really can't make this stuff up...

Mr. Know-it-All always has an interesting way of putting things that ends up making me laugh. Yesterday he was wearing tennis shoes that were made of clear plastic so you could see his socks through them. At one point during class he took one off, looked at it, and exclaimed: "Science is happening in my shoe!" Apparently there was some condensation visible on the inside... he followed this up with, "Science is on my toes!" At least he gets excited about science... :)

He also accidentally broke a magnet in class the other day. When he told me what had happened, I gave him a fake angry look, to which he replied: "It was the energy's fault!"

Also, have I mentioned that we got a new copy machine at school? It is all fancy schmancy and will even hole punch for you! It also sends faxes, and supposedly will scan something and send it to your email, though I have yet to figure out how that feature works. I'm apparently a little ahead of some of my coworkers though. Recently one or two of the administrative staff were spotted making double sided copies...by gluesticking two one sided copies back to back and then copying them on the 2-->2 setting. The very people you would think should know all of thei ns and outs of the copier since it is basically integral to their job and located mere feet from their desks. Yes. It's true. You can't make this stuff up.

Crutches, Crouches, Crunches and Cats

So another 8th grader is on crutches. She hurt "that thing in your knee that starts with an 'L.'" (ligament) So that prompted the following interaction... she had left her crutches at her desk and was stumbling toward the hallway.

Crutches Girl: I'm stumbling without my crunches!
Me: Crunches?
Crutches Girl: Oh. Crouches.

Try again. :-p



Then today in class, one of the boys started off with "Miss Book, I've been thinking about this all weekend... I was wondering, when we turn a light on, is that a chemical or a physical change? We were saying that light isn't made of particles, but I was still wondering if lighting something up makes it change..."
I was pretty jazzed that they were actually thinking about science outside of science class. His question was followed up by a question from Bus Pass Boy about what it means when people say that light is scattered (like when they explain how the sky is blue). So then we talked about that for a few minutes.
Then one of the girls raised her hand with a puzzled/thoughtful look on her face...
"I been thinking this whole time... Do cats really have nine lives?"

I'm still not sure how that related to anything...
The rest of the conversation went something like this:
Me: No.
Girl: So if I shoot a cat eight times, it won't still be alive?
Me: No.

Wow.

Don't make fun...

It was a normal Monday in the 8th grade today, them full of crazy, me full of let's-get-going-we-only-have-35-minutes-since-worship-ran-over energy (which always results in me talking fast and loud, which obviously doesn't help the crazy...). While being bombarded with questions about the review sheet and whines of "but I didn't understand the homework," I battled the urge to answer the loudest questions and made myself call on the girl with her hand raised. As I shushed the others, she asked her question and Single Kidney Boy decided he needed to add his two cents concerning what he thought about the question. Annoyed I shot him a look and said, "I didn't ask for comments from the peanut gallery."

At that the class started cracking up while he fixed me with a death stare...then I realized that I had inadvertently classified the smallest kid in the class as the "peanut gallery"...and then I couldn't help giggling myself. I am so bad at keeping a straight face when stuff like that happens...

Whoops.

Signs of the times...

Me: Okay, I need you to open your books...
Single Kidney: What channel?

Life sucks when...

Single Kidney (aka the smallest cutest 8th grade boy ever): What chemical is this? (pointing at something he wrote on his paper)
I soon realized he was trying to make the letters in his name correspond to a chemical compound, for example, if his name were "Sammy" he would have written SAM2Y.
Me: Well, you could make that S for sulfur, Am for americium and Y for ytterbium.
Single Kidney: What chemical is that??
Me: Nothing. Those elements don't combine together.
SK: MAN! (slamming his notebook shut) Life sucks when you can't write your name as a chemical!

Mr. Know-it-all Returns

(Anyone get that reference? There was a book I read as a kid called "Miss Know It All Returns"...)

The 8th graders were on fire today. Mondays are rough because worship always runs over, then I have to wrangle 8th graders and remind them that the bell already rang and they need to put their coats away and get their stuff and find a seat. They always act surprised that the bell has already rung--even when there's a clock in the back of the room that CLEARLY says 8:30 has passed...

Mr. Know-it-all was out sick for a few days but was back today. And as hilarious as ever. I overheard the following exchange as they were all making their way to their seats... he was addressing Crutches Boy who I think will now be "Wannabe Gangster" since his crutches are gone...

Mr. Know-it-all: You are not a gangster! You're 12 years old, you go to a private school, and you wear a tie!!!


A few minutes later as I'm talking to them from a chair in the back of the room (changing the time on the clock).
Wannabe Gangster (I'm not sure who he was talking to): Why do you keep looking at me??
Mr. Know-it-all: It's because you're black.
Confused Girl: We're all black!


Bus Pass Boy got upset that I didn't give him credit for homework that was not in his notebook. I heard the usual cry of "That's not fair!" but before I could launch into a lecture on fairness, Mr. Know-it-all jumped in:
Life isn't fair! You think Africans just WANT to starve themselves and not eat?

Point taken.


And finally, I was observing the 8th grade religion class today and somehow they got on the topic of the Virgin Mary.
Mr. Know-it-all: So did Mary actually have to have the baby? Like, did she actually have to push it out or did it just, like, pop out?
Mr. Rush: No, she actually had to have the baby, just like anyone else.
Mr. Know-it-all: So God put that baby in her and didn't give her any choice and then she had to go through all that pain. That sucks. She didn't even get to DO anything...

Rush had to assure him that Mary was actually married and did have other kids, so at some point she did indeed get to DO something. ha!