Visa debit cards, Justin Bieber and "Owned Dissigens"

Here's the prompt:

If you could be one age for a week, what age would you be? Why? What would you do?

These are some of the gems I received today:

K. (of this lovely and this lovely) said: "If I were a age I want to be 18 so I can join the army. I would go to the gym and get a Visa debit card."

L. (featured here): "I would turn 13 or 14 then I would try to go out with Justin Bieber. These are my two reasons. 1. because he's totally cute. 2. It would seen fun to be as old as my brother and I would only be that old for a week."

and J. (our newest overheard at school contestant!): "I would like to be 18 cuz then you would be able to do your owned dissigens (decisions if you don't read 6th grader) and I would start working to by my own stuff and not ask my parents for anything. Then I could move and get my own place and even if this doesn't happen, I plan to be responsible for what I do and not blame any1 for my actions. But first I plan to live my childhood I don't wanna grown that fast but then agen (again for those of you who can't keep up) it's just one week."

Man. I love their thinking!

*All spelling mistakes are what the 6th grader actually wrote, I wanted this to be authentic...please take off your judging pants before you call me on it.

Number 2

I told you about my students writing goals here and about how one of my students wanted to "be more awesome" and "find a girlfriend."

What I forgot to mention was that the next day he said, "Hey Miss J. My number 2 is coming along pretty good." Because I was teaching and it was a crazy time, I had no idea what he was talking about and immediately thought he was talking about poop...mostly because he's a sixth grade boy and why else would you say "number 2" if not referring to that "number 2." Because I didn't think he need to tell me about how great his number 2s are, I questioned him a bit more. He said, "Remember yesterday? My number 2...the letter?" Cue light bulbs. Oh. The girlfriend. "That's nice K. but I still don't think it's a great goal for you."

So, being the sarcastic, always-give-you-a-hard-time-but-in-a-loving-way teacher that I am, I ask him about the goal every once in a while by saying something like, "How's your number 2 coming?" And I always do so when he's with girls because it's just too easy. He usually says something like, "Oh, pretty well."

Today was different...today when asked, he said,

"I finished that goal yesterday."

"Someone at this school?"

"No. She's a year older."

"Oh, K. Good luck."

Personal Goals...Really? That's What You're Working On?

I finally got around to getting my students to write down some goals. I wanted them to write 2 personal goals, 2 friend and/or school goals, and 2 family goals.

(Let me remind you that I work with 11 and 12 year olds.)

These are the personal goals I got from one boy in my class:

1. Be more awesome

2. Find a girlfriend

I said, "K. you don't need a girlfriend, girls are annoying."

K.: "No they're...WAIT! You're a girl!"

Me: "I know and I'll say it again. Girls are annoying."

K.: "Miss J, girls are not annoying. And I need a girlfriend."

Me: "Let's make a deal. You can have a girlfriend when you're in 11th grade."

K.: "Ugh. Miss J, can I just go to the mall and find one?"

Me: "No. Go do your math."


Why do 11-year-old students think they need girlfriends/boyfriends. Ewwww...have you smelled each other lately? Have you noticed how your bodies are going crazy and you can't control yourself? Why in the world would you want to hold hands and...ack, do I dare...possibly kiss?

Saying that just made me vomit in my mouth a little bit.

If you are less than 16 and reading this post remember this and thank me later...

YOU DO NOT NEED A GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND RIGHT NOW. Concentrate on something productive like doing your homework and playing sports.


P.S. This is post number 200. Woot! My bloggy baby is growing up.