The (im)Maturity of 6th Graders

Going into this teaching position, I knew things were going to be different than in 1st grade. Granted, there aren't nearly as many differences as one might think, but there are some. And the biggest one is also the most predictable: the fact that I cannot say the words "ball" or "balls" without the class getting a bad case of the giggles.

I teach science, and I was relating some concept to a pool table and the way that when one moving ball comes into contact with others, it causes the others to move. And every. single. time. I said the word "ball," one or two started laughing. Which in turn caused one or two more to giggle, setting off an uncontrollable chain reaction. Seriously people, what I am supposed to call those things! I was fully aware of this problem going in, but knowing about it in an academic sense and then encountered it in person are two totally different things.

Or, in another example, the kids wanted to play dodgeball, but I do not have the necessary P.E. equipment. So I told them that Mrs. Tai said we could borrow her balls. Oh my goodness, you'd have thought I was the next Letterman the way they exploded in laughter. Okay, I'll admit--acknowledging that Mrs. Tai has lots of balls is kinda funny in a, well, 6th grade kind of way.

It was a bit surprising to me that the taste level in humor can get even lower. I was demonstrating the effects of air pressure by hanging two balloons off of a yardstick and then having someone blow between them, causing them to come together. (Rather than being pushed apart, as most predicted would happen.) First, they thought the two balloons looked like a certain anatomical feature, and then I had to give the instruction to "blow." Oy vey!