"What does 'prostitution' mean?"
It was a seventh grade science class. They were supposed to be working on a vocabulary assignment dealing with erosion and weathering (earth science stuff). And mostly they were.
But seventh graders can be easily distracted by random stuff. And even though they weren't supposed to be on their cell phones (I had banned them as they had abused the privilege the day before), clearly something had caught the eye of a group of three boys sitting on the right side of the classroom.
I said something about them having an assignment to complete.
So, the one boy sitting behind the other two looked down at his lap and quoted, "Violators subject to prosecution..."
Oh, so the boy just misread something. Again, not on topic. And we didn't need to go down that particular rabbit hole. I again directed them to get back to work.
But you know they didn't. One of the three had to look up on his phone the word "prostitution"...
I'd've thought they would have heard the term before. Apparently not. Because suddenly all three boys were looking around with wide eyes...
And I made a note of this for their teacher. Because, well, it was that kind of day.
It takes a brave woman to be a substitute teacher in a middle school.
ReplyDeleteThey are little terrors.
DeleteMiddle schoolers are the worst
ReplyDeleteYes, they are.
Delete*sigh* Love how they went from science vocabulary to "prostitution". Because of course they did. And of course they were boys.
ReplyDeleteThat's just the way that works. Always, it seems.
DeleteHa! That's crazy. Although I suppose it's refreshing that they didn't know the word already. Wonder how their teacher is going to handle it when they get back... :)
ReplyDeleteJamie Lyn Weigt | Writing Dragons
Alas, I did not find out. Hopefully one of these days I'll learn.
DeleteNever a dull moment with a bunch of high-energy 7th-graders around!!
ReplyDeleteAnd now they're never going to shut up about it.
ReplyDeleteOh brother. I would be tempted to say, "That's where you're headed if you don't do your work."
ReplyDeleteProsecution or prostitution...? Another rabbit hole I didn't want to go down.
DeleteOne of my Barbarians had an assignment to do in about grade 3 for science. He decided to do a report on octopus. Innocuous I thought...nope. One of the first web pages he opened after googling octopus was a porn site - this was quite a few years ago and Google have improved their search algorithms considerably since then. Not a conversation I thought we'd have to have when he brought home the project!
ReplyDeleteI said it before, but really I don't think you get paid what you are worth to put up with some of this stuff. Just saying.
ReplyDeletebetty
haha...I am with Betty.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeletePost #8,750 of yours that make me so grateful I went into the, uh, profession, I did go into, because my mother wanted me to be a teacher....my 7th grade was never like this.
ReplyDelete7th graders are a force unto themselves...
DeleteI once was told by one of my nuns that I had a "scatological" sense of humor. Being as I was in the 4th grade or so, I didn't know what it meant so I looked it up.
ReplyDeleteIn summation (as I'm sure you know)..."pertaining to excrement."
At first, I was offended, then I remembered making fart jokes.
Yep, Sister Estelle was right on the money.
Well, those two words certainly could have been used together in the same sentence! Science class sounds like it can get a bit saucy.
ReplyDeleteI suppose they could. I'm rather afraid to learn what it was they were looking up.
DeleteBoys, eh?
ReplyDeleteMiddle schoolers are sometimes worse than high schoolers.
ReplyDeletewww.ficklemillennial.blogspot.com
Sometimes? Nah. Always. Middle schoolers are the worst. It's the age.
DeleteI wonder what the youngster will have in 25 years down the road.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh never a dull moment in your class is there?! I was trying to work out how old 7th graders would be, but I expect your answer is old enough to know better!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Wren x
They should be 12, but at this point in the school year, many have turned (or will soon turn) 13.
DeleteOn one hand it's nice to know the boys had an innocence about them.
ReplyDelete