13 February 2010

Greatest Moments in Teaching

Setting the Scene: The teacher has described the use of the molecular model kits to the class. The colours were explained (black = carbon, red = oxygen, blue = nitrogen, etc) and the use of sticks (single bonds) and springs (multiple bonds) are described. She has now asked that the students, in groups of three, build several different molecules, like H2O, CCl4 and NH3.

The activity is going along well, until one group notices that their kit is missing nitrogen. A girl (let's call her Susie) in the group raises her hand to get the teacher's attention.

Susie (waving hand): "Miss, we don't have any nitrogen."

Teacher (voice raised to address the class): "Do any of the groups have an extra nitrogen to lend to Susie's group?"

All the groups, engaged in their work, ignore this request.

Teacher (slightly exasperated): "Okay folks, listen up! I need to know. Who's got blue balls?"

Several boys raise their hands, while stifling laughter. All the girls look bewildered.

Teacher: "What I mean is...well......c'mon you guys......hey, stop laughing......oh, nevermind."

23 comments:

Unknown said...

LMAO! Yes, working with teenagers is always exciting... thanks for sharing, starting the day with a laugh is always nice!

KID, MD said...

HAHA!! That is a great one!

Sewellen said...

heheheh....great moments ideed!!!

Lisette M said...

Love it! I tutor high school kids and it is always an adventure.

Toby Wollin said...

Well, in Canada at this time of the year, this only makes sense, actually.....

Lilian said...

OH-BOY! This is so funny!

Dharma said...

Things like that keep us real!!! Life is just funny sometimes.

Debbie Cook said...

Hahahaha!! Hilarious!

Elaray said...

That's funny! Should we be glad or worried about the girls being bewildered?

Rose said...

Thanks for the chuckle. I guess it is cold there! At least, the teacher knew the boys were listening.

PerryPie said...

Omg, hahaha! Love that!

Connie B said...

Hahahaha. Great moments in teaching for sure! My daughter just got hired on the Toronto Catholic school board, and I often get OMG tweets from her about "her" kids.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Thanks for sharing the funny! I'm sure some of your days are filled with moments like these!!

deb said...

:) !!! Thanks for sharing these funny classroom moments!

Paige said...

Bahahaha! That is hilarious! I still play with those sets for my classes even in college lol!

Dawn said...

That's like when I mentioned the "Oral Office" instead of the "Oval Office" during the whole Monica Lewinsky thing. Oops.

Cisa said...

Priceless!

Trudy said...

Cute. You should write up all of these funny moments in a little journal. You would enjoy going back and reading them again in the future.

Jen said...

Hilarious!!!

amber said...

Bwahahaha! Ah man, that was so needed this morning! :)

Claire S. said...

Thanks, I needed that - LOL !

Kat said...

That reminded me of the time I asked our Superintendent to speak to my class about his hiring procedure. He was going on about eye contact, the handshake, then he said he likes to see the candidates sitting "Erect" in their chairs. Well, you should never say the word "erect" when more than half the class is a group of Sophomore boys... Guess it was quite a while since he was a classroom teacher.

Modiste Madness said...

High school boys are a breed of their own. They will tell that story forever. I have to admit I find it as funny as they do. Thanks for sharing.