Precious Moments

In honor of my soon-to-be triumphant return to the world of pencils, books, and giving dirty looks, I thought I'd share with you one of my all-time favorite teaching moments.

Was it one of those moments where a struggling learner suddenly understood what I was saying? Or was it a day that I helped a student solve a serious personal problem? Or was it the day a student gave me a heartfelt card saying that I was like a mentor to her?

OR was it the day that I first adopted what would become my motto for teaching 8th graders: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Oh yes, it was this glorious day, my first year of teaching.

It was the end of the year, spring-time, when 8th graders get just a wee bit hormonal. My students were a little stir crazy, to say the least. This is understandable, and although I generally have good classroom management, they would not stop coming up to my desk, where they would then manhandle my stapler. You wouldn't think 8th graders would act so shocked and amazed over staples shooting out of a stapler, but you'd be surprised. At the time, I was trying to walk around the classroom and assist with essays, so sitting behind my desk, guarding the stapler with a taster was not an option.

So what did I do? I wandered back over to my desk, grabbed it out of a student's hand, and... I stuck it down my pants.*
Then I was all, What now, who wants to touch my stapler NOW?

And they all stared at me in a slack-jawed expression that very clearly said, I can't believe she just put the stapler down her pants.

But guess what? They ALL left my stapler alone.

*In case you're wondering, it was inside my pants, but outside my underwear. I'm not that gross.