Why I do what I do

It's the little things that make me smile....

This week I was reminded of why I am doing what I am doing, meaning teaching. Yesterday one of my boys, Joseph, came in from recess all sweaty from running around and ran his hands through his hair in the front. I happened to glance back at him and chuckled to myself as I saw that his "bangs" were standing straight up in the air from the sweat. He was totally oblivious to the fact that his hair was like this, but it kept me amused.

This same kid was the one who became so enthralled with the math lesson for the day: How to calculate tax for a bill. He got the concept very easily and began jumping up and down in his seat, barely containing himself. (Remember, I teach Gifted students.) I started to write a few follow-up problems on the board to have them solve at their seats, but I only got one written down when another boy, Bailey, looked at me bewildered and said, "Mrs. Huston, I don't get it." I started to explain it to him when I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Joseph excitedly trying to solve the one problem that was on the board. I kept explaining the concept to Bailey when all of the sudden Joseph blurted out (without even looking up from his paper, but motioning with his hand), "That's good, Bailey. Keep Mrs. Huston distracted for a few more minutes. I almost have this thing solved." It was so funny (for those of you not laughing right now, I guess you had to be there) that I started laughing out loud, which got the rest of the students laughing, too.

This same student, Joseph, gave me another laugh earlier that day, too. They were all sitting around my rocking chair while we read a chapter out of From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It happened to be the 2nd to last chapter where all the "mysteries" of the story are revealed. Needless to say, all 15 students were glued to the book for an hour. At one point (right during the climax of the plot) I stopped and closed my book and said, "OK, class. I think that we've read enough for today. We'll finish the book tomorrow." The reply I got was 15 students yelling all at once, "NO, Mrs. Huston! We can't stop reading NOW!!" (That's one of my favorite responses to hear from kids.) I chuckled and opened my book back up to keep reading. And then Joseph said, "Mrs. Huston, would you please not stop all the time to ask us questions about what we're reading and just let us finish the book? I've gotta find out what happens!"

Thank God for these little 9 year-olds who CAN make their teacher smile....even in the last few weeks of the school year.