Silly

You know what I love? My bean table. Why? Because, when I finally clean it off and actually sit behind it (with my contraband chair, no less) and work with small groups of kids, WE LEARN SOMETHING!

Today, I decided that our small group learning was going to be about algebra. Specifically, the KILLER standard where my kids went from being able to solve one step equations last year (3x =21) to solving RIDICULOUSLY DEVELOPMENTALLY INAPPROPRIATE problems.

-7(x - 3) - 4x = 2x + 14 - 9x

Right. I literally die trying to teach this.

So we, in groups of 3 or 4, sit at the circle table and chug it out. We work hard on these questions, we help each other, we critique each others work, and boy, its generally a fun time being at the circle table. So much so, in fact, that my problem kiddos BEG to come to the table to learn. (They love working with me in small groups. They freaking love attention. Thus, they are a problem if they don't get it.)

So in my last class, I'm working with a trio of hilarious boys, and we all start laughing, and Shiny, from across the room, yells, "Whoa! Ms. L! You have a sense of humor? You're actually laughing!"

Oh how 7th graders think I'm not actually human...