Responding to poetry

We read a poem called "I Fell Asleep in Class Today," and the twist at the end was that the speaker was a teacher, not a student. The kids went back to their seats and were filling in these worksheets I had made. One free response question said, "What would you do if your teacher fell asleep in class?" I expected answers like, "I would make paper airplanes" or "I would run around the classroom and swing from the hooks in the closet."

Instead, I saw the following answers pop up most frequently...
The calm and collected: "I would read a book."
The ambitious: "I would teach the class."
The ever practical: "I would wake her up."

Another field trip moment

We enter the hall of European Painting. The students gather around the first picture in the room, of a girl with curly light brown hair wearing a yellow dress. In unison..."Ms. Powell, it looks just like you!!!" "It's you!!!" "It's your twin!!!"

Field trip

Y: Ms. Powell, you do not eat meat?

Me: Nope, I do not eat meat. I'm a vegetarian.

Y: Why?

Me: Because I love animals a lot and I don't want to eat them.

Y: And your mom is a vegetarian too?

Me: Yep.

Y: I guess everyone in California is a vegetarian.

[J. forgot his coat. He only had a little sweater.]

Me: J., aren't you cold?

J: No, I'm just going to a warm place in my mind and so I'm okay.

[On the subway. L. and S. giggling and talking quickly in Spanish.]

L: Ms. Powell, Ms. Powell guess what.

Me: What?

[L. points at random man standing a few feet away.]

L: That's S.'s uncle.

Me: What?

[Man looks very confused.]

L: It is, it is!

[Man shrugs his shoulders, continuing to look confused.]

Me: I don't know...

S: It is, it is!
[Man shakes his head.]