Guten Sock?

Hello all!
Did you miss me?
Well there was Labor Day and then flood day…
Flood day? You ask incredulously.
Yes people, flood day.
Are you unaware of the rain that has fallen on us in copius amounts?
It was a lot, causing floods.
Maybe not Ark worthy, but possibly canoe worthy.
Or a small raft.
Maybe just doggy paddling. If you are a small dog.
But still.  Trees were down, power out, lots of water.
So… Flood day.

Today however, was not flood day.
Just 1 hour delay day.
Yay!

Today I did morning meeting. The whole thing!  
It is rather enjoyable.

“Ok, this morning we are going to greet each other in German!” I inform the class.
“German?” Many questioning faces look at me.
“Yes! And in German you say ‘Guten Tag’ to greet each other.”

They each practice the word, saying it to themselves. Trying to get the hang of it.  But mostly the words are just clumsily escaping their mouths. I stop them before they completely make a mess with the words.

“How about we all practice it together. When I count to three, we will all say Guten Tag together” I make sure to over annunciate the word for their benefit.

“One, two, three… Guten Tag.”

A variety of words fall out of their mouths.  I hear some say the right thing.  From one child I heard sock.

Sock? Guten sock?

“I said sock!” Ashley says laughing.

“Yes, it appears you did. Well, now we are going to greet one another.  So what do we need to remember when greeting someone?”

Blank stares.

Really? You guys have done this every day.

I start them off “Well what do we do with our eyes when we greet someone?”

I hear mumbles of “make eye contact”

“Right, make eye contact. What do we do with our mouths?” I ask

“Talk”

“Yes, you use your mouth to whisper talk the greeting. How about your hands, what do you do with your hands when greeting one another?”

More mumbling “shake hands”

“Yes. Ok. Let’s start over here. Katie, you start us off…”

People, let me just tell you that out of 20 children, maybe 4 did the right thing. They were refusing to shake hands and refusing to look at one another. They did however; all say Guten Tag in some form or another.

The rest of morning meeting went well.

The greeting? We will try another one tomorrow.

Tomorrow? We are doing it right!

Shush, let a teacher dream.