conversations.

Storytime!

Number one. Today when my class went outside, the students had to do two laps around the track. I decided to walk with them, and one of the girls runs up beside me and says, "I want to walk with you!" This in itself was weird, because she isn't usually the most teacher-friendly girl in the class and I honestly didn't think she liked me all that much. So I was happy that she wanted to hang out with me and I began to talk with her about various things. We really did cover a lot of topics in those two short laps, but mainly she wanted to talk about the movie 2012 and the end of the world. Then, that conversation led to her telling me about how she goes to church with her Grandmother, and who God is in her life. This was so crazy, because honestly she was leading the conversation the entire time. I wasn't even trying to be all camp-counselor and bring up God, because I can't even do that at school. And I wanted to talk with her more about it after she brought it up, but I'm not really sure where the line is between too far and not too far as far as talking about stuff like that at school. I did ask her some questions about what church she goes to, how long she's been going, and stuff like that, but it was so weird for me to be having a conversation like this with a student instead of with a Sky Ranch camper. So different!

It was also a weird situation because honestly, this student is one of the biggest bullies we have in the class. I loved the fact that I got to spend some one-on-one time with her and hear her talk about God, but it broke my heart, because I can't use that to teach her. I can't use all those things to teach her why she shouldn't be a bully or why she should be kind to her classmates. And I know that she still has a lot of growing to do, so I pray that she will see these things on her own in His time. It was such a blessing to have that conversation and that time with her- SO COOL.

Number two. Favorite moment of my day- I was walking around the classroom during reading time, and I saw that one of my students was just starting to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Here's is the conversation that happened:

Me: [name]! Are you reading this book?
Student: Yeah! I just started it.
Me: Do you like it so far?
Student: Yes!
Me: Me too! You know what? I actually just started reading it again too! 
(I pause and wait for him to say something. He thinks for a minute, looks at his book, then looks at me and says-)
Student: ...can we read it together?
(My heart pretty much melted.)

We talked a little more and decided that tomorrow we will read some of chapter 2 together. I am really excited about this, and I'm excited that he is excited as well! After we talked about the first book, he informed me that he had all of the Harry Potter books up until number 5. He said that we should try to read them all by the end of the school year. What a cool kid.

I have one final note from the day to close out this post, but it does not qualify as a story. Today, I heard one of my students successfully use the word "Crusty" in a sentence. That, I did not teach them, but I laughed a lot on the inside when I heard it. Then I went to Singers and proceeded to tell EVERYONE.

Love it. :)