Four Things Overheard by a Teach for America First-Year: Anonymous

1. This first one actually made me crack up in front of the class:

We're practicing multiplication with flash cards, and the whole class comes to complete silence in anticipation of the next card when, from the back of the room Gerald proclaims, "I'm fittin' to eat some pancakes!"

2. The next day, we were talking about science and what we were gonna learn and some of the experiments we were going to do and Gerald raises his hand and patiently waits for me to call on him. Then he says, "Mr. --, L-- said he was going to make himself explode!"

3. Maybe the best though, is my principal, who uses phrases like "vanilla folders," dealing with the "pacifics" of our plan, and planning for "exscream situtations."

4. Today, I banned any New York Yankees-related paraphernalia. Taylor raised her hand and asked if that meant "Yankee Doodle Dandy" was banned, too.