Private Parts

There were two times today when I found myself laughing out loud due to funny student remarks.  And I mean the true, LOL, where I really, truly laughed.  Not just a chuckle.  What's even better were the looks on the kids' faces when they heard me laugh at something. They first looked to see if I was really laughing, and once that was confirmed, they joined in whole-heartedly.  It was a little laugh-fest in my classroom a couple of times today.  Positive vibes were everywhere. 

Now I know I can't just throw this out there and not tell you what it was that was so hilarious, so here goes.  

Laugh #1
One of my boys was showing pictures from his recent trip to the Bahamas on the document camera at lunch.  He had done a spectacular job of printing out some pictures and including wonderful captions.  After we had all finished "oohing" and "ahing" over the gorgeous beaches and animal photos, the student interjected a little fun fact.  And he prefaced it by telling us all he now had a "fun fact" for us. [smile]   The class and I held our breath waiting for this exciting tidbit of knowledge. 

"I'll bet you didn't know that the Bahamas used to be called Hog Island, did you?"

Hmmmm.... well... no I didn't know that.  Neither did twenty-one other little ones who suddenly wanted to understand why in the world anyone would name anything Hog.  And so it started. 

"Why was it called Hog Island?"   (repeat this about twelve times with different stresses on different words in the sentence.) 

Numerous ideas were thrown out and were rejected or agreed with by others.  Suddenly one student jumped out of her seat.  

"I know why it was called that!!" she exclaimed.  "Because the guy that first found the island hogged it!" 

Now, I'm not sure why this was as funny as it was to me at that moment.  When I type it, it doesn't appear nearly as funny as it was in person.  Maybe you had to be there. 

Laugh #2
On to the afternoon of fun 3rd grade curriculum.  We have been learning about the Native Americans and had just read together some information on how much Native Americans respect the land and animals.  We were talking about how Native Americans only killed animals when they needed food and they would use all parts of the animal; nothing went to waste.  We talked about how they used the hides for clothing and the meat for food and the bones for tools, etc.   Now, remember, I told them they used every part of the animal.    Up goes a hand.  Two hands, three hands, and four.   One is waving frantically and soon this student is sitting up on their knees in their seat trying to call even more attention to himself so I would call on him. 

Hmmmmmmm.... I have been a teacher long enough to know that the frantically waving hand usually has one of two things behind it.  Number one:  a completely off topic story about last summer's vacation or number two: an inappropriate remark.   Should I risk it?  And so I did.

"You said they used every part of the animal, right??"  checked the student.
"Yes.  They didn't let things go to waste," I confirmed.
"Well, what did they do with the animal's... you know... the.... animal's... private parts?"  
[Student motions and looks down pointing at his private parts]

After a moment of frozen silence and twenty-two students watching for my reaction, I shrugged my shoulders, rolled my eyes a bit, and LOLed.  They joined in. 

"Good question!" I congratulated him.  And then I moved on to Native American wigwams at lightning speed.  

Now as a teacher there are certainly many times during the day when I hear funny comments or remarks.  I usually smile and even chuckle a little.  But today, I found it was easy, and even fun to just laugh out loud.  Could it be the more positive atmosphere in my classroom?? Could it be that I'm just open to having more fun and enjoying the moment?  

And on a side note, I did google it.  I read that Native Americans ate brains, intestines, and organs of animals (as people do today), but I didn't see anything about private parts.  Just in case you wanted to know.