Grading papers can be a lot of fun

Today on a whim to teach these kids how to use a Spanish/English dictionary, I had class in the library with every dictionary available. The assignment was easy, really. All the kids needed to do was to use the newly learned phrases: "I like" and "I don’t like" and combine them with the words of food they were looking up. They were working in groups and eventually the kids were getting the hang of it. I was finally able to sit down and watch while my students learned on their own. What an amazing concept. At the end of class I collected the assignments and stuck them in my binder to correct later after the rest of my classes. Later in the afternoon, I pulled them out to evaluate how much they had really understood. Besides a few missing I’s, and misspelled words they had done pretty well. I had one kid get confused and he used a French dictionary instead of English. That was fun to grade. :)

However, my personal favorite came from an 8th grade student. Wilkin had been sitting across the library looking over at me with his side grin every once in a while. That should have made me suspicious but all I could do was laugh when I read over his sentences. My “A” student had the following list.

1. I like pineapples
2. I like carrots
3. I like bread
4. I like milk
5. I like rice
6. I like avocado
7. I like bananas
8. I like Juice
9. I like cheese
10. I like beans

1. I don’t like onions.
2. I don’t like water.
3. I don’t like yucca.
4. I don’t like grapes.
5. I don’t like papaya.
6. I don’t like pizza.
7. I don’t like sandwhiches.
8. I don’t like passion fruit.
9. I don’t like raisins.
10. I don’t like vegetables

I was impressed with this list. It’s one of those times that you like to think that it’s your amazing teaching that inspired such a perfect homework assignment. But I knew that after reading Wilkin’s following paper it was all coincidental. His looked like this:

1. This syrup cures the cough.
2. No player wants to impede the other from playing.
3. The boy is very hungry.
4. To climb the mountain is quite an achievement.
5. The flour for bread and cakes is made of wheat.
6. Raisins
7. Salad
8. Frut Juic
9. Frut Pie
10. It’s very dangerous to meet a wild boar in the woods.
11. Thank you I never smoke
12. He has an injury on his foot
13. Coffee
14. Mushrooms
15. Pineapple
16. Lemon
17. Carrots
18. Lettuce
19. Brocoli

The next time I saw my student I held up the paper and asked him if he understood his assignment. He smiled his crooked smile and responded, “I’m good and how are you?” Some days I can’t help but love teaching. This was one of those days.