Ya’at’eeh! This is my second year teaching first grade on the Navajo Reservation. I have enjoyed teaching the children and playing with them, but what I really enjoy is listening to them. They say the funniest things! There is such a big difference between how a little kid thinks and interprets life and an adult…it makes me wonder if what I think I am teaching them is actually what they are learning. Here are a few amusing tells from my secret story vault.
- A little girl raises her hand. “Yes?” “Ms. Jessica, I had a dream last night.” “You did? What was it about?” “I had a dream that I was AN INDIAN! I had my face painted and everything!”
- A student and I were standing on the front porch looking out onto the Reservation. (Home of many Native Americans) “You know what would be cool Ms. Jessica?” “What’s that?” “If there was Indians still living out there!”
- We have a toy Indian in the toy box. During free time, one of the children grabbed the toy Indian and raced over yelling to the other Navajo first graders, “Who wants to be the Indian?!”
- “Time to clean up. Put your notebooks away.” “Is it recess time?” “Yes it is.” Talking to the other boys around him: “It’s time to be talkin’ with the ladies!” Giggling: “Yep, we’ll be talkin’ with the ladies!” A chorus of boys nod their heads and chuckling say, “Talkin’ with the ladies!” –I am guessing that the phrase is off a movie …other then that I have no idea where that came from. All of my first grade boys are into super heroes. One day they were sitting around a table discussing which super hero was the best. One child argued against Spiderman saying, “Spiderman is cheap! He’s got a girlfriend!”
- I was cleaning our new fish tank when the questions began. “It that the fishes new home.” “Yes it is.” (Slightly giggling…when the little giggles start you know something is up) “Are they [fish] going to move in?” “Yes, when I get the tank cleaned out.” The giggling is getting a little louder. “Are they going to move in their suitcases and clothes?” Giggles turn into laughter. “Well, if they had any.” “And their TV and dresser?” Now laughter has turned the class into hysteria. Now I am speechless. Their laughs are so cute it makes me laugh with them…even though I don’t understand why it’s so funny to them.
- Since getting the fish tank I have had trouble keeping the fish alive. I placed 2 big fish and 3 little fish into our new tank. Less then four hours later they died…the toilet burial was held at 8am in the boy’s bathroom. A day later I got a sucker fish, which I thought would be hard for me to kill. Less then 24 hours later it died. One of my little first grade girls went outside to the playground monitor reporting very seriously, “Ms. Jessica keeps killing our fish!”
I am so blessed to be able to teach first grade at Immanuel Mission. It has been a lot of fun and a wonderful learning experience. The children are such a joy and I love being a part of their lives. Thank you all for your prayers. I know that God is using many people to accomplish His work out here.
Jessica Williams