Precious Moments II

In case you haven't guessed, I'm really not thrilled about returning to work tomorrow. However, in an effort to make the best of it, I thought I'd share with you another classroom story. This one does not involve me putting anything down my pants, but it does involve me being awesome.

I rarely have cell phones ring in my classroom. My students learn early on that if a phone rings, I answer it. I've talked to parents who have said, "He/she is supposed to have the phone OFF during school," and I've had phone calls where the other party just hangs up, leading me to believe it's another kid who should not be calling.

But my favorite phone call was this one:

This kid's phone kept ringing (he had it on vibrate), but he brought it to my attention because he said it happened all the time, and it was from a New Jersey number. He said he didn't know anyone in New Jersey, so I told him the next time the phone rang, I'd answer it. It rang a few minutes later, and the conversation went like this:

Me: Hello?
Josh: Yes, hi, my name is Josh and I'm calling from--
Me: What is this call in regards to?
Josh: Um, I um, I'm sorry, what's your name?
Me: I'm sorry, I don't normally give out my name over the phone. I'm just wondering why you feel it necessary to call my student in the middle of English class.
Josh: Your student? I'm just calling to speak to him about consolidating his student loans.
Me: [tries hard to choke back laughter and fails] He's in 8th grade. I really don't think he HAS any student loans.
Josh: He's in...he's in 8th grade!? Isn't this [says some name]?
Me: Uh, no, this isn't, and seeing as how this is a public school, I can assure that he has to take out no loans to attend our fine institution.
Josh: Well, clearly it's a wrong number, then. I'm sorry.
Me: Clearly. Take him off your list so we can get through English class. Thanks, bye!

And for funsies, let me share one more little tidbit with you that has nothing to do with cell phones, but everything to do with 8th graders being ridiculous.
One day, my students kept writing, "I LOVE COOKIES!" on their papers. I finally said, "Listen, I love cookies just as much as the next person, but STOP. That is ANNOYING!"
Naturally, 8th graders don't know when to stop, so a boy asked if he could write it on the board. I said, "Fine, but then we're done with cookies."

So, he gets up and writes, "Mrs. C. loves cockies!"

I nearly choked and said, "ALEX!!" He said, "What?" and as the class started to laugh, he turned back to the board, realized what he wrote and nearly killed himself trying to erase it. I suppose some people would've been mad about it, but it was an honest mistake. One that I found so hilarious that I had to immediately share it in the teacher's lounge, to (of course) be met with a round of "I bet you do!"