Hmmm...No

I've been wanting to write this post for a few days now and finally have some time since it's a 3-day-weekend! (shouts of hooray go here)

Being an elementary school teacher has got to be one of THE most entertaining jobs out there. Even though I don't teach kindergarten and I don't get as many random comments...There are a few I'll always remember.

For example, I found myself either thinking, or saying this phrase out loud multiple times this week: Hmmm....No.

• "Miss Fisher! I can't get a drink in the hall. The drinking fountain has run out of water." (Hmmm....No. Drinking fountains don't actually contain just a certain amount of water that eventually runs out.)

• Me, during a science lesson: "Give me some examples of different power sources." 10-year-old girl: "A battery, a generator, a solar...solar...solar system. (Hmmm....No. The solar system contains different planets and does not provide any circuit or flow of electricity. However, a solar CELL does.)

• I require each student in my class to memorize and recite the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. Here is how one particular boy tried to pass off this requirement this week: "We the People of the United States: in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general WARFARE, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." (Hmmm....No. So close, but no. The general warfare is pretty much the complete opposite of the general WELFARE. Needless to say, because I found it humorous...he passed.)

And my favorite one of all...

• We're also learning about the Founding Fathers in school and this was classic! At the end of this particular lesson, to wrap things up, I asked my class to name 3 of the Founding Fathers. One boy, whom usually doesn't participate had his hand raised along with several others...so...naturally, I called on him. (we're suppose to encourage participation as a teacher.) His response: "Washington...Hitler...and....and...Franklin." This boy spoke so softly that no one caught the middle name; it sounded a little like Hamilton (which would be a normal response). I then asked him to repeat the middle name to clarify (drawing attention to it) and he restated, "Hitler." (Hmmm....No. We just spent an hour discussing these men and their importance. Adolf Hitler was not one of them. He didn't actually help establish the United States of America. In fact, Hitler couldn't be further away from these "founding" ideas.) Needless to say, conversations of swastikas and nazis probably occurred during lunch.

Good times.

See? Is there a more entertaining profession? I'm gonna go with.... Hmmm....No!