More perles

My kids were just full of hilarity this week. Apparently, on Tuesday, some of my 2nd-graders started calling out English vocabulary words during a French lesson (with their normal, classroom teacher), much to said teacher's confusion, amazement and delight. I cracked up, but was thrilled, upon hearing this story Thursday morning. I almost feel like I could walk away right now, saying "mission accomplished!" Almost...

In English class with the same group of 2nd-graders on Thursday afternoon, I was working with a small group who was having a blast asking each other the 4 questions we've been working on, and then responding. I asked them to ask me the questions, one each, and when I had been asked where I live, what my name is, and how I was doing, it fell to Maud to ask me how old I am. Now, Maud has basically two settings by the time afternoon English rolls around; either she's full of spunk and personality, or she's nearly comatose with exhaustion. On Thursday she was more spunky than I've ever seen her this year.

With a big grin, she asked, "How old are you?"
"I am twenty-three," I responded, using my fingers to show 2 and then 3.
After a brief reflection, another group member said, "Vingt-trois ans?" [23 years old?]
"Yes," I said.
Still grinning from ear to ear, Maud quipped in French, "Oh, 23 years old, you're still young in my opinion!"

Thank you, Maud! I hadn't doubted it until you mentioned it!


The second bit of children's wisdom came on Friday morning from Antoine, my 5th-grade, bilingual-because-he-has-a-British-mother student. Antoine regularly shares with me stories about his life, or questions about the US, or little observations. I think he likes having someone other than his mother with whom he can speak English.

As the class was lining up to go back to their classroom, Antoine came up to me and said (in his perfectly adorable British-schoolboy accent), "my grandmother was a teacher and she says that on Fridays, the teachers used to say to each other, 'T.G.I.F.," which means 'Thank God It's Friday." I told him I know the phrase, and that yes, it's quite useful!

...I then wondered if this particular anecdote had anything to do with the fact I had just angrily kicked 4 of his classmates out of class for being rude and disruptive... TGIF!