When I was a kid, I remember a television show starring Art Linkletter. He had children on and asked them questions about a variety of topics. Their answers, from their perspectives as children, were often quite funny, and sometimes priceless.
In the classroom, every teacher has experienced that time when a student says something memorable. It may be funny or sad or perceptive- it may even be one of those statements that parents would be mortified if they knew what their child said. Regardless, those quotes are often what encourage teachers to say “I could write a book…”
Tales From My Classroom…
Some of my third graders were discussing a school principal’s change in plans concerning retirement. The rumor was that he was treated unfairly. I overheard one of my students, a very sweet little girl, say “Mr. M. just got the shaft”.
A fourth grader was showing me his t-shirt, which was quite interesting, and remarked how his Dad took one look at it before school and said “What the heck is that!”. The student then explained how he changed Dad’s words a little.
A kindergarten child assured me that she was going to work really hard because her meds were working really good!
I was having a discussion about trains and asked if any students had ever been on one. Some students raised their hands and I asked one of them where he went. He told me “I’m right here!”
What do you remember students saying that you will always remember?
Classroom Tales and Lessons Learned 
During preschool screening, one of the four year olds was being asked to identify the letters of the alphabet. She was not having much success with any of the uppercase letters. She was not doing any better with the lowercase letters until she came to the lowercase “f'”. Then her face brightened and she said that she knew that one. We waited for her to say it was the letter f. Then she said, “facebook”!
Kids in a class needed partners and there was one kid who was misbehaving. The teacher asked for a volunteer to be his partner to help keep him under control and focused. A girl stood up, raised her hand, and said in a perfect voice “I volunteer as tribute!”. This is lost if you haven’t seen/read The Hunger Games, but it’s AWESOME if you know what I’m referring to!
I don’t have any stories about remembering when someone said something funny/amusing. But I do have stories of things I’ve said myself when I was in school…
When I was in my senior year of high school, I was of course suffering from “senioritis” like the rest of my classmates. This horrible disease often led to me losing focus in class and doodling all over my notebook. I’m pretty sure I had more random pictures and drawings than actual notes during that year. Well one day in my statistics class, the teacher noticed that I was once again doodling and not paying attention. He called me out on it and said that he didn’t want to have to look at whatever I was drawing when he was grading my assignments. The respectful response would have been to apologize and attempt to refocus on the lesson that was being taught that day. But of course that’s not what happened…instead I looked him straight in the eyes and in a completely serious voice replied “then don’t look at them.” Now anyone who knows me is aware that I can be blunt and sarcastic. But this was the one teacher that most students were afraid of and the entire class went quiet after hearing my reply. I waited for him to get mad and yell but surprisingly, he found my response humorous and simply laughed. He didn’t actually say anything and went back to teaching, but somehow that response made him respect me. Now I don’t think being a smart mouth is the best way to earn the respect of a teacher but in my defense, it did have positive results! I’m pretty sure it had more to do with the fact that I was one of the few students who didn’t just quiver and act terrified when he spoke to me. Or maybe he just appreciates sarcasm. Or maybe it’s a bit of both. Either way, it’s a win for sarcasm!