Jose Jose Jose Jose

The school year is well underway now. Things have been getting crazy. Those in the education profession will understand what I mean when I say I look forward to starting 3 quarter in 3 months so I can start to have a little bit of faith in the "official" schedule. Now if this is not the norm, let me know where you teach, I need to know how you do it, but at my school, nothing is ever set in stone. Schedules, reading groups, curriculum, standards, expectations, budgets, etc. One of the big changes at my school is the enrollment. I went from 17 students last year, to starting this year with 21, and I am now up to 27.

Because I have to look at the funnier side of this to keep from going crazy (and aging 20 years by the end of May) I have a story to tell you. I have 4 students with the same name... two of them have the same last name too. Lets say their names are Jose. Let me tell you what I called them and how it changed as they joined my class.

At first I had 2 Jose students, both with the last name Hernandez (names have been changed, but the general idea is the same):

• Jose J. Hernandez, and Jose T Hernandez. That is easy right, one is Jose J. and the other is Jose T.

Another Jose joins the class, with the last name Taylor. Well, so much for Jose T. Hernandez being called Jose T. Now they are called:

• Jose J.
• Jose Thomas (this is Jose T. Hernandez)
  
• Jose T.

Yet another Jose joins the class. You will never guess what his middle name is... yep Jose Thomas Johnson! So now, if I call Jose T. Hernandez, Jose Thomas, then the new Jose will be confused, So do I call the new Jose, Jose J.? Oh wait, I already got one of those... crap.

So what do I call them now? Jose. That's it. If I say Jose and I am looking at you, then you are the one I want. Now what do I do with my identical twins (that dress the same too) named Mary and Mery? I guess that will have to be a story for another post!

Ask a Teacher

Two weeks of school have already come and gone! Crazy how fast time flies by, isn't it? The past two weeks have reminded me of some of the funnier things about teaching second grade. Let me explain:

Ask a Teacher, they know everything:

Second graders are still at the age where they believe that adults just know everything. This is both funny, and sometimes tiring. Yesterday I was teaching a math lesson about how to solve "Some, Some More" math problems. Because I teach the English Language Transition (ELT) program, I do a lot of teaching in Spanish.

To help the students understand, I wrote "Some, Some More" in both English and Spanish on the white board. My students then asked me to write it in Chinese. Now I don't know any Chinese, but I decided I would give it a try. I drew some symbols under the Spanish. Gasps of amazement went out through the class.

"Holy cow! He can really do it!" was being whispered throughout the room. That made me smile, so I went ahead and wrote "Omesay, Omesay Oremay" (Pig-Latin) under the Chinese. Needless to say, my students were amazed.

Is there anything Mr. Tucker can't do?

That's How I Planned It!

Ever make a mistake? Yeah, that happens, but not to teachers. Everything we do "wrong" is really just a test for the students. This works out great because I get to constantly "test" my students in spelling :) both in Spanish and in English.

I bet the Teacher would like to know that:

My students are great, and I love working with them... unless it is during recess, or lunch when I am trying to make worksheets, clean messes, organize my desk, etc.

They are so funny though. The students at my school eat lunch in the classroom (yeah, what a bad setup, I know). Well, while they eat, I try to get stuff done. This is near impossible. There is always at least one student that is sitting at their desk thinking, "My mom sure likes to go to Walmart.... HEY, Mr. Tucker would like to know that!"

So they walk up to my desk and look at me. I am sure that they are wondering, "What is the BEST way to start such a wonderful story?" After a minute, they say, "Mr. Tucker? The other day... ... ... ... The other day..."

"Yes?" I say. My response seems to brake down a dam that was holding in the words. They come spilling out as fast as possible.

"I went to Walmart with my mom and we bought some Hot Cheetos, and we went with my little brother that is in first grade and I like to eat Hot Cheetoes and my mom likes to go to Walmart and sometimes I get to go to Walmart with her."

They then stand and wait, and I kid you not, they are hardly breathing as they wait to see how I respond. Not wanting them to feel bad, or know that their story had no point I say, "Wow! That is SOOOO cool!" As a big smile comes across their face, about 10 other students are thinking, "HEY, my mom likes Walmart too! I should let Mr. Tucker know!" So much for getting stuff done.

Making a Line:

I am sure I could go on all day about the funny things kids do, but this will be my last example today. Recess, Lunch, P.E., Music, Library, or just to get out, we are constantly needing to make a line and walk through the halls at school. This is one of the things that I know I did as a kid, but I still just don't get it. Think back to elementary school and making lines and you too will remember cutting in line. Oh how I hated that as a kid. "Hey, you can't cut in front of me!"

Well, my students too hate it. "Mr. Tucker!! So-and-so cut in line!!" they cry.

"So what?" I respond, "we are all going to the same place and will all get there within a couple seconds of each other." Not only that, but they hate going back to class from recess! Why the hurry? I always wonder what goes on in those little heads, "Man! Recess is over, now we have to do math! I wish I could spend more time out... Hey! Is that Joe cutting in line! Now I have to wait a whole extra second out at recess! I can't let this go untold! Someone needs to stop him!"