I really have become a blog failure this year. I keep procrastinating on writing about the October break trip....and now it is December. Maybe it's because Facebook provides a more instantaneous way to update and share pictures and stories. But I personally like to have a record of my life here in Turkey (and so does my mom!), so I WILL update about the following things soon: October trip with Natalie, Istanbul marathon, and the Christmas markets in Cologne, Germany (actually this upcoming weekend, but I think I need to think ahead now). For this post, I want to share some funny student stories that I have encountered/been a part of over the past year and a half here. I should make this a segment on my blog (although I need more updates to have a segment), because these are the kinds of memories I really want to hold on to. Here are a few of my favorites (**no real student names will ever be used!):
1. This one comes from last year, when I was teaching third grade (I am teaching the same group of students as fourth graders now). A little background--the students' schedule goes as follows: 40 minute lesson, 10 minute break, 40 minute lesson, ten minute break...for 8 periods. During one of the last breaks of the day, the school provides a snack for the students. So one day, the snack was mini bananas. I was really excited about this and made sure I got my own mini banana for an afternoon snack. One of the third grade boys, Billy Bob (clearly made up, as there is nobody named Billy Bob in Turkey!), is trying to get the adult passing out the bananas to give him another one. I discover that he already ate three, so I said no more bananas for you. After a few minutes, the bell rings, and I go to get ready to go teach Billy Bob's class. Billy Bob walks in a few minutes late (typical), and clutching his stomach. I ask him what's wrong, and he replies, "Ten bananas," in Turkish. Turns out he convinced SEVEN of his friends to let him eat their banana snack and therefore, ate ten mini bananas in ten minutes. Needless to say, Billy Bob spent the rest of that lesson in the nurse's office.
2. Another boy in Billy Bob's class (there's a handful of characters in that section), let's call him Frank, called me "Ms. Dimbert" for the first semester in third grade. Frank is more on the chubby side but has the highest pitched voice out of all the boys. So "Ms. Dimbert" coming from him always gave me a little chuckle.
3. Last year, the third graders brought in breakfast foods to share with their classmates to eat during first hour. These included standard breakfast foods like cereal and fruit, as well as Turkish breakfast staples such as olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese. I loved walking in and seeing them eating breakfast at their desks and sharing their breakfast stash with their friends. The best image is of one of the more mild boys drinking tea with his friends....Turkish men love to drink their tea so it was hilarious to me to see them starting out so young. And I wish they would do those breakfasts in fourth grade.
4. Pencil cases are a really big deal for the students (because let's face it, they try to get away with putting more than just pencils in there). The best pencil case I saw last year was shaped like a tube of toothpaste. When I asked the student where he got the toothpaste pencil case, he said both of his parents were dentists and got it for him on a trip. So perfect!
5. There are many mature and responsible students in fourth grade, but one girl in particular, Lucy, is a cut above the rest. Lucy wore a skirt, tights, flats, and her hair in a beautiful bun the other day...just like a teacher would. It was classic. I also am starting to realize that Lucy knows more about what's going on in the school than I do, so she's a good go-to person to ask questions about. For example, today she rattled off the entire testing schedule for fourth grade (I was not aware of this). She also knows about field trips, assemblies, and even stuff like whose parents own which businesses. She is one of those students who could probably teach the English class for me, if I were ever absent.
That's all for now. I think I will start to keep a list of funny stories from fourth grade and share the best here. For anyone who is interested!
