The sevens were particularly somber today after their returns from Spring Break. I was okay with their sleepy states because I lived in one myself all day, but that didn't mean I could let them outright snooze through the lesson. So, I had to nudge at least one student awake each hour, and the last one proved well-worth a blog mention.
As we began work on the assignment last hour, I stopped over to wake one dreaming beauty. She didn't sit up or move upon receiving my tap; instead, after a brief pause, she spoke, head still down.
"Oh my god." Her tone was neither surprised nor shaken. "There's a puddle of drool on the table." Calm and collected, her words muffled through her arm, she asked, "Um. Can someone please get me a tissue?"
Not all sevens would handle this so cooly, so I couldn't deny her request. As I walked over to retrieve the tissue, no one else moved or spoke, but each began to tune into the situation.
The drooling daisy sensed this, and when I handed her the tissue, she replied with a kind "thank you," but still didn't move. Finally, she asked, "They're all looking at me, aren't they?" her tone now muffled and defeated.
"Well. Yeah," I confessed. She had, after all, announced that she had created a puddle of drool. What seventh grader doesn't want to see that?
"Oh," she stated, drew herself up gracefully, wiped up the drool in one swift motion, and took up her pencil to begin work. I like this girl, I thought.
And miracle of all miracles, no one laughed. They simply looked back at their own papers and resumed writing.
3 comments:
I like that girl too. I wouldn't have handled the situation that well when I was in college, let alone 7th grade.
The sixers don't fall asleep.
I should encourage them to put their heads down more.
I want to BE her when I grow up!
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