Levity in the Classroom... Remembering I'm a Teacher

However much I love teaching, I have a decent capacity to forget that I'm a teacher when away from work. Lately I've remembered a bit because I've helped set the budget for the learning center and consulted about ordering supplies. Those aren't my favorite aspects of teaching, so maybe it's a rude awakening.

However, I know why I'm excited to go back to teaching in Musoma! It's the kids. Lovely for many reasons, one of my favorite parts about teaching is the free entertainment they supply. I have a little book that I started at my first job, when I taught first grade in the States. Inside are some of my favorite things that kids have said to me over the years. Here are some samples of the past, as I look forward to the future:

• I shared that my car door hit me that morning. C said he knew why. He leaned in and whispered ominously, "It might be a Transformer, but I think it's a... Decepticon!"

• Z ran up to me breathless during recess. "Ms Deal, can you hold my sticker? I need to chase the boys." Another day she panted, "Ms Deal, I need some water so I can chase boys. I caught three. Four more to go." She also told me that her mother would prefer it if I called her JuJubee.

• An older student, K, coming out of one of my riveting modern world history classes: "Let's play revolution! Who wants to be the government?"

• L showed me the warts on his finger, explaining, "I have bumps on my finger, so I use them as a remote control. Beep, beep, beep [demonstration]." What he is controlling with those bumps, we may never know...