Monday Mr. P and I switched jobs. I took over his special ed co-teaching assignment while he returned to the English classes he'd been in since January to finish up the state testing the students needed to do.
So, what was the eighth grade English class that I was co-teaching doing? State testing. Naturally.
When I arrived, Ms. R (who I subbed for when she was on maternity leave back during hybrid learning in 2021) greeted me with, "Welcome to watching paint dry."
Ms. R was done. She was not in the mood for any of their shenanigans. Only a few of the students were still testing, so the rest were to have brought something silent to do.
As she was explaining the rules (which they knew, but with eighth graders, you have to repeat and repeat and repeat, and they still will not have heard), I noticed one girl nodding along as if answering yes to the question of having brought something silent to do.
The girl had a coloring book, a jigsaw puzzle. And a deck of Uno cards.
Ahem.
They got started. Ms. R was busy at her computer, making sure the students were "let in" to the testing session. I took over monitoring the kiddos.
The kiddos needed things. One wanted to move out of his seat and sit on the couch. There was already a kiddo on the couch. (Yes, this teacher has a couch. It's a reward for the students.) Another student asked for something that Ms. R had told him to wait for.
Once the excitement of getting started had settled, we just had the usual fidgeting to deal with. But things were quiet, so all was well.
And then Ms. R saw the girl with the Uno cards. Well, she saw two girls with Uno cards. The game had started...
I mean, how can anyone think playing a game is going to go silently? And Uno? Seriously? Part of the point is yelling out "Uno!" when you have that last card.
Ms. R just gave them a look. She motioned for them to put the cards away. They did. But the look on their faces was something. They thought they could play quietly? Really?
Eighth graders are different creatures. From now on, Ms. R will for sure be telling classes not to bring games for silent days. And students will wonder why she would make such a warning.
I was all, "A coloring book! What a great idea! Oh, a jigsaw puzzle. That's great. Uno? UNO?!? Oh no."
ReplyDeleteWhenever I did an art project with my students, I would have to tell them not to eat the paint. And yes, it was for the exact reason you suspect.
That seems to be the case with most warnings/rules; the more specific they are, the more likely it is that someone has done it and that's what got it added to the list.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. I used to give a long speech to classes about what I expected when they listened to music in class. Every warning on the list had happened at one time or another.
DeleteI loved that she has a couch in her classroom. Now that's a reward for work accomplished. And Uno is not a quiet game. Fun though.
ReplyDeleteI could not handle daily doses of misbehaving kids
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a good thing you don't work with kids then ;)
DeleteUnless you're going to play solitaire, you really can't play a silent game.
ReplyDeleteEarly teens are such a challenge!
ReplyDeleteThat they are.
DeleteMy daughter is in seventh so she's getting there. I sure hope she wouldn't think Uno is a silent game. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteI don't know. You'll have to ask her.
DeleteIt's hard to play a game that's quiet unless you are playing yourself on your phone or iPad.
ReplyDeleteEighth graders. The only consolation is knowing I was an eighth grader once. Still...
ReplyDeleteEighth graders are evil. I've said this for years. The good news is they grow out of it. Well, most of them.
DeleteThe 'welcome to watching paint dry' comment made me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteOh, Ms. R is brilliant, especially with the sarcasm. She is wasted on eighth graders, truly.
DeleteAs soon as I saw uno I knew
ReplyDeleteI mean, it fits one of the major themes of the blog. Of course it was going there.
DeleteCertainly some games are suitable for a silent day. What about chess?
ReplyDeleteNot with a board. Many students play chess online all the time. Seriously. When they should be working on other things. I see it at minimum once a day. Alas, if they weren't testing, they weren't allowed electronic devices, so no chess boards.
DeleteMiddle schoolers do nothing silently. A chess game will turn into a shouting match at some point. Guaranteed.
DeleteAnd chess pieces being flung about, willy-nilly.
DeleteSeveral of my cousins are teachers, as was my late childhood friend (she taught 4th grade in New York City). Me? I know enough to respect any teacher who stays in this field year after year.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting gig, that's for sure.
Delete