Say Whaaaat?

O.K., just for a change of pace let's reflect on the things that make teaching worthwhile...the funny stuff that kids say or write. The one that I will always remember came during my first year as a teacher and taught me a valuable lesson about test development. I had taught my students all about ancient Rome, the Coliseum, the gladiators, the chariot race arena (the Roman circus) and the baths. I thought a great short essay question would be "If you lived in Rome during ancient times and looked out of your window, what would you see?" One enterprising youngster wrote, in all seriousness, that you would see "dirt, wagons, dogs and kids"!!! I had to give him the credit because he was actually right!
Last year on the American Revolution test a student wrote that the reason the colonials threw the tea overboard into Boston Harbor was because they had too much luggage! The Civil War test is always good for a few chuckles. One question about people who helped bring about abolition elicited Rosa Parks as one of the abolitionists!
On the recent test about Law and Government a student was writing about a new law allowing DNA testing to be done for "convicted felines" so they could get a new trial! For the life of me I can't remember what another student was writing about that included the word "concubine". I just remember it was difficult to find the words to explain to an 8th grader what that word meant.