Last week I found pleasure in the words of our students. As a little boy got off the bus – hair slicked back with obviously self-applied gel – he breathed into my face and said, “Smell my breath.” Although I was hesitant, I really had no choice! After a short pause, he said, “Minty, eh?” He was proud of his mouthwash breath!
On Friday I came back to my desk and discovered a post-it note: “Cup cake. For you.” I appreciated the punctuation and the arrow pointing to the sprinkle-covered mini cupcake. The note gave me more pleasure than the cupcake!
The same student who left the cupcake saw me later in the day for a reading assessment. As I read the prescribed introduction to the book, I used the phrase “fishing expedition.” He rapidly tapped the tips of his fingers together in excitement and said, “Oooh, big words!”
Now there’s a kid after my own heart…