Little Mistake

A small group of students and I were reading an article about self-esteem today in literacy. One of my struggling readers was reading aloud while the rest of the group followed along. He was getting very excited as he read because he wasn't making any mistakes. The final sentence stated: "For ideas on how to improve your self-esteem, check out these tips."

My student, in his mounting excitement over his superb reading, read with gusto "Check out these tits." He immediately covered his mouth, looked at me, then looked away in the type of horror that is only reserved for teenagers. I tried to keep a straight face, but completely lost it. The five of us were cracking up for the next five minutes.

When it was time for us to put our books away, the same student said, "You know why we like you? Because you're just like a child." Now it was my turn to show the type of horror that is only reserved for teachers who don't want their students to know they're only 25. "Why do you think that?" I asked. He said, "Because you laugh all the time."

I'm choosing to take that as a compliment rather than obsessing over whether or not this is a good thing...