Cute kid story

[sbl]

My 11 year old daughter brought a friend down to my basement room to see my toy soldiers. The girl is around 8. I have a 8 x 4 plywood table that I set up figures on. She was more amazed that a grown up had toy soldiers rather that at 200+ Marx recasts set up to show the "High Water Mark" at Pickett's charge.

I asked her if she knew who's army the gray figures were.

She said: "YOURS"

[jthlmnn]

Scott, I love the story. It reminded me of several episodes in the classroom when I did not think through the phrasing of a question. Children usually respond to the question that is asked (and as they understand it), rather than the question that may be intended. In this case, you asked her to identify the owner of the soldiers (WHOSE army do they BELONG to?) while intending to ask which army they represented.

A similar miscommunication can happen when we answer questions from children: we answer what WE believe is intended, rather than what the child intends. Illustrative story: Little Jimmy comes home and asks his mother where he came from. Mom goes into a long spiel about the birds and bees. Only when she finishes this spiel does it dawn on her to ask little Jimmy what prompted the question in the first place. He replies, "There's a new kid in my class, and he says he's from Cincinnati."

These are lessons I especially try to remember when doing a classroom presentation or a school day.

[wagen dawg]

A long time ago, sometime in the 80's, a teacher asked her 2nd grade class:

Last night George Brett made a great sliding catch made in a World Series game. Does anyone know what game this was?

Little Somebodyorother answered "The third game".

It had to be a long time ago, because the Royals were in the WS.

Tim

[yerbyray]

You ought to send that into Reader's Digest