Reason 20: Half Life, Half Right

We were going over half life, and one specific question resulted in a certain number of half lives.

Me: Ok, so after that amount of time, how much of the original mass should you have left?

Student: One thirty-tooth! *meaning 1/32*

Me: *Face/Palm* Your mother is weeping somewhere and she doesn't know why.

Reason:19 How do you spell?

Me: So CFC's are the molecules responsible for depleting ozone. Make you note card about ozone and CFC's. 

Student: How do you spell that?

Me: *befuddled look* C---F---C?

Eruptions of laughter.

Reason 18: Your mom's a....

We are playing a review game for our first test on Astronomy. Our game consists of two teams that send a player up to a stool with their hands behind their back. The object of the game is to take the eraser that is on the stool first if you know the answer to the question. If you miss the question, then the entire other team is allowed to help their player. 

Two students stand ready for their question.


Me: What type of star has the greatest luminosity?

Student taking the eraser: William!

Me: What? No. (William being one of the 24 guys in my third period)

Same student: Yeah huh, he's a gas giant!

Random student in the peanut gallery: Your mom's a gas giant!


After I picked myself up off the floor from incapacitating laughter....I gave the first kid the point.

Reason 17: What kind of forest?

We are discussing different types of biomes in my class with a chart that shows precipitation and temperature. It is a pretty easy to read chart, so I am asking some questions about the different types.

Me: What kind of biome gets the most rainfall?

Student: Tropical rainforest.

Me: Good. Ok, which type of biome do we live in?

Student: Temperate Delicious Forest.

Me: Well, almost....

Uproarious laughter ensues.

Reason 16: Rice Paddies

Me: What kind of things affect climate?

Group of students: We think rice paddies.

Me: Rice Paddies? Like where they grow rice? Are you serious?

Group of student: Yes, Google said rice paddies affect climate.

Hand + Forehead

Reason 15: Reflections

For each unit in our class my students have to write a unit reflection for their learning. I received a unit reflection today so titled:

Astrology Unit Reflection

Reason 14: Science...taken on faith?

Picture this little girl. She is quiet. Her features are petite. When she speaks, it is almost a mousy squeak. And she is absolutely precious. She is also about as country as a collard green. Ok, now that you have her in your mind, here's a conversation between she and I today.

Student: I don't believe in science.

Me: That's ok hunny. Science still believes in you.

Reason 13: What they don't say...

So this post is a little different from the normal funny stuff my kids say. This is one of those times where my kids teach me a little more than I teach them.

Yesterday I was having a rough day. It was the first full week of school, and between tennis practice, late suppers, and early mornings I was super exhausted. I was cranky during my planning period, and I usually try to shake it off before I get to class. Today, I just couldn't get past the bad mood.

I'm in class, and I am trying feverishly to get all the computers and chargers packed up in the laptop cart. My boys are being good, and just talking and waiting for me to say they can leave. They know they can't leave until I count all the computers and chargers.

So, there I am, down on my hands and knees quietly grumbling about how sloppy the chargers were put up. I was tossing a few of the really knotted chargers out on the floor behind me so I could rewind them before putting them up again. It might have been 4 or 5 chargers. All the while I am grumbling, complaining, and just being a pill.

Then I was served a big heaping helping of humility. While I was grumbling and tossing chargers behind me, one of my guys was quietly picking them up and rewinding them. While all the other guys were hanging out and talking, this one guy was demonstrating what having a heart of service really looks like. In fact, I didn't even know he had done this until I turned around to get my tangled mess of chargers and they were all on the desk beside me. Neat. Tidy. And wrapped in humility. I asked who did it, and one guy standing near by pointed to the guy who did it. He didn't ask for reward, acknowledgement, or praise.

I was given a wonderful lesson that day, and it is one that I will not soon forget.

Reason 12: What do we get...

Our first unit is about astronomy. So we were talking about Earth's rotation and revolution. Here's what followed in a class discussion:

Me: What does rotation give us?

Student: Day and night.

Me: Good! Ok, what does revolution give us?

Student: WAR!!!!

Laughter erupts, and ten minutes late I pick myself up off the floor. Only Freshmen boys...

Reason 11: Feels like a butt cheek

I have a colleague who likes to rile the kids up before they get to me. He tells them very interesting stories, which they of course relay to me.I never really got the gist of the story he told, but here's the relay. I think it might have been how a man relays feeling sick to a woman...or something like that.

Student: "He said that when he feels bad he feels like a butt cheek. And he tells his wife that his ass...."

*Student turns red, covers mouth, and realizes that what was supposed to be ASKS...turned into something way different*

Ah that moment when the swear word comes out unintentionally from a kid who doesn't say swear words. Nice.