3rd Grade

I made an unexpected visit back to my third graders class today. (YAY!)

In the mornings on Tuesday's and Thursday's students have PE for an hour. I swear these kids are the most competitive third graders I have ever met. Two of the boys in my class are die hard baseball players and if they don't win it is as though their world is going to crash down on them. Needless to say, when we play games against other classes, it's on like Donkey Kong! Today the kids played against another class in a game called Greek Dodgeball. It is similar to dodgeball with a few differences. Anyway, every time a student in my class got a student from the other class out, they made the most ridiculous face I have ever seen. One of the students has big eyes in my class, and when he got a kid out I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head he was so excited! I know that I shouldn't pick sides and that I need to promote good sportsmanship, but my class totally killed the other team! It was a very proud moment in my early career.

One of the boys in my class complains about school ALL the time. I am pretty sure it is for attention, because he is always well engaged in activities and has high test scores. Today he kept asking me why I like school so much. I told him it is because I love to see his shining face everyday. I'm pretty sure that is the reason I like school so much. I enjoy working with students like him, regardless of how many times I wish I could tape his mouth shut because of his annoying comments. I want to be able to inspire him to like school. I just have to find a spark.

I feel like one of the students in my class always knows why I am laughing at something. Today when we were playing games, it was clear that a student had no idea how to play Heads Up 7Up, so when the kids had their heads down I started laughing. The boy walked up to me and started laughing harder than I had ever seen him laugh before. He said, "Miss. Hobbs, I don't think he understands the game at all." I love that this kid can read my mind. I wish you could all meet him, he is a trip.

When the kids were playing Silent Ball, one of the boys, the one who I think is hilarious and who I always talk about, decided not to play. One of the girls in class asked him why he wasn't playing. He responded with, "Silent Ball is for greedy ball catchers." I about laughed so hard I fell over. The whole point of silent ball is to catch the ball and not allow others to take it. So, in a sense, I guess you are being greedy, but I had never heard it broken down into those terms. Needless to say, he is not a fan of greedy ball hogs.