Yes Ma'am, Teacher!

Here's a funny hall happening from earlier in the school year. Since our primary school has fifteen kindergarten classes, teachers must spend lots of time teaching these young students to use appropriate behavior in classrooms, hallways, the lunchroom, playgrounds, and all around the school. My room is centrally located, so I overhear lots of behavioral coaching in the hallway outside my door, especially as lines of students leave the cafeteria after lunch. Well one day I witnessed a kindergarten teacher reminding her children to be quiet and calm on their way back to class. She demonstrated the "peace and quiet" sign she wanted them to practice, which entailed children putting a finger on their lips with one hand and showing a peace sign with the other. As she modeled what to do, she stood at the front of her line and faced her class, saying, "Watch me and do exactly what I do," Although most of the teacher's students followed her directions appropriately, a couple made their "peace and quiet" sign and began walking down the hallway BACKWARDS, which is what the TEACHER was doing as she monitored her children. These innocent little souls were doing their very best to please their teacher by following her directions to the letter, but of course I couldn't help but crack up at the natural tendency of five year olds to take things so very literally!