Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Presto Change-O

White days (the days I teach sixth graders all day) always bring about interesting and humorous quotes from the mouths of my students. There are usually two or three memorable quotes in each class, but due to my terrible memory, I can hardly ever recall them. There was one in fourth period today though that struck me.

A male student got up from his seat to go sharpen his pencil. This is nothing unusual. He usually finds things to do around the classroom to amuse himself (get a drink of water, sharpen his pencil, go to the bathroom, etc.) He finished honing his writing utensil and began returning to his seat. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. A look of utter perplexity covered his face as he looked down at his own torso, grasping at his clothing. "What!? I SWORE I put on a black shirt today!" He was wearing a red striped shirt. This was fourth period, roughly 1:15 p.m. Assuming he got dressed this morning at 6:15 a.m., we can estimate that he has been wearing said red shirt four seven hours. Yet at that moment, he was completely convinced that he had indeed put on a black shirt. This is but a glimpse into the scattered mind of a middle school boy. Then, with a shrug of the shoulders and a "eh, oh well" the bumfuzzlement left him as swiftly as it had come.

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