Misunderstanding

Teacher flub-o-the-day:

My third block class is a boisterous bunch. They are all nice kids (praise God!), but there are a few kids who could be a little nicer by being a little quieter. "Bob" is one of them. I have to tell him several times a day to be quiet or talk more quietly or something of the sort.

Today I let the students get into pairs to answer questions about a short story we had just read. I can tell that spring break is soon because the kids (and the teachers!) are getting a bit crazier by the day, so the room wasn't exactly the model of quiet work environment. At one point, Bob announces loudly, "This room is too loud! I can't concentrate."

"Well now you know how the rest of us feel," responds Sally from across the room. (BTW, Sally and Bob are friends, so I knew she didn't mean it maliciously)

"I completely agree with you, Sally!" I chimed in.

"Ooooo...she got you," several students snicker.

Bob looks shocked. "What?!?!"

"Yup, I love it when students reinforce what I'm thinking," I said.

Several more "Ooo's" and laughs.

"You think I'm ugly?" Bob asks.

"What?"

"Well Betty just said I had an ugly face and you agreed!"

I broke into laughter, probably turned several shades of red, and had to gather myself before explaining: "That's not what I responded to. Didn't you hear what Sally said?"

Bob, and several other students, thought I was reponding to Betty's ugly comment (Side note: Betty and Bob are also good friends, so she wasn't being mean, really, either...just don't want you to think I advocate bullying in my classroom), when I, and a few other students, knew I was responding to Sally's distration comment.

Of course, as most stories are, writing this story out doesn't do it justice. Let's just say I felt pretty foolish and everyone in Room 122 had a good laugh today. Always good to end the class laughing, right?