Teaching Funnies

Teaching middle school definitely keeps teachers in the know as to what kids actually know. No, I don't just mean if they can identify a preposition, list facts about Medieval Europe, etc. I mean the things they know that we don't want to know they know but know they know. (Friends flashback, anyone?)

At my previous teaching location, the kids didn't hide what they knew. I knew every cuss word (and then some) and inappropriate comment they could possibly say...and then some. They had no filter; no judgement when it came to the "maybe we shouldn't say these things around our teachers" thing that most of us were brought up with.

Being in a rural setting now, the kids have these filters, and my super-awareness of the inappropriate is still slowly backing down. I know the inappropriate and expect a lot more giggles and smirks than I often get. Definitely part of the job.

Today...we had the giggles. All of us. Sometimes, it's just impossible to hide it, and can work in your favor. Fight it? Raise your voice and tell them to calm down? Ya gotta pick your battles, people. Plus, when they see you laughing at this stuff too, they tend to like you a little bit more.

Enough of that. Here's the story:

I teach Language Arts. Content standards demand that I teach vocabulary and that students spell correctly. We all grew up in a land where spelling words were a weekly thing and much to my students' dismay, I brought that back. Because seriously, good spelling is hard to find with this younger generation of millennials, and it doesn't take up all that much time when added to my vocabulary list. So they learn the definitions of these words, as well as how to properly spell them (most of the time.)
Today we were reviewing by playing *Sparkle Spelling,* a classic.
The kids stand in a line, I give a word and they build the word as they move down the line. I've noticed that spelling test grades increase dramatically when we do this game.
For example, I give them the word animal. 
Student 1: a
Student 2: an
Student 3: ani
etc. etc.

This week, they have the words apprehensive and furtive. 

I'm sure you can all figure it out.