A two letter curse word.

"No."

God, I am really starting to hate that word. When I was a kid, I never took no for an answer and very rarely gave it as one. Apparently my grandmother's favorite thing that I did when I was little was respond to "What part of 'no' don't you understand?" with a very serious "The 'o'."

I wish my kids were like me, but they're the exact opposite. They say "no" more than "hello" at this point. I put together a really simple lesson plan that they surely wouldn't refuse. Let me give you a brief rundown of the day. Youtube video, coloring sheet, super simple worksheet. Easy. Fun.

We just learned the days of the week, so the intro was asking them what day it was. I got one "Friday!" and about 10 silent kids, and two playing Granny on their phone. Alright. Ask them to put their phones away and start the video on our new topic as I introduce it. Months of the year! Great fun. Put that phone away, please. Come on, follow teacher! January! Say it with teacher! Put the phone away! February! Please repeat it with me! No phones, stop. March! Guys, please! Follow teacher and put the phone away. 

 Yeah that went well. Ran through it twice and nobody wanted to repeat it. Great, okay, next step, hand out a coloring page and made sure everyone got their own pack of crayons because god knows it's chaos if someone doesn't have a yellow. Oh yes, here is the "no!" chorus again. Put. The. Phone. Away. Yes, please color. No, no "teacher no!" Please color! Color. Yes, color. PHONE. AWAY. Fine, I'll sit next to you. Yes, I see the phone under the desk. Give me the phone. Stop it. Color. Please. No, don't cross it out. No, don't throw it on the floor. Please, color. Yes, color.

We didn't even get to the worksheet... What? Everland? Roller coaster? Viking? You like Everland? Good English. Wait, why are you cheering? No, no Everland. Oh boy, now it's chaos. Why are you on the floor yelling? Put the phone away! No phones! Time, time! Game over! Goodbye, I'll just pick up the worksheets and look at the half done work. Bleh.

I feel like I'm working with a bunch of 5-year-old kids, hard to believe they're actually 8/9.

Ah well, just try again next week I suppose.

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