there is no such thing as a dumb question

I have been reading a book that takes place during the dust bowl (1930's) with a group of students. We read about how the farmers were killing jackrabbits because they were eating the wheat they were trying so desperately to grow. One student raised her hand and very earnestly asked,

"Is that why they call them jackrabbits...cuz they jacked all their food?"

I laughed and told her that was a very good question.

Thanks, I guess...

Yesterday was so sunny that I broke out a skirt. Apparently I don't dress "nice" very often because one of my lovely students walked in the door with a puzzled look on his face. He said, "Man, you look weird" and then he proceeded with, "You look old fashioned"! Are you kidding me?

only when you grow up in Ethiopia...

...can you write a story like this

...In the morning I woke up and outside there was a hyena, bones and a puddle of blood. The hyena ate my dog. I screamed and it came after me, but my uncle had an ax and cut off its tail. So the hyena ran away. From that day on I decided to close the gate.

-Written by a 5th grader in my class

photosynthesis

today i taught (ahem...learned) about photosynthesis. either i was a really bad student in elementary/middle school or my teachers really dropped the ball because i dont even remember learning sciencey things. so, i teach myself things i should probably know, and then i teach my students. the poor things...i hope that they can't tell that i don't really know what im talking about.