First of all, after I responded to that student yesterday and told her that I stayed home because I was sick and Ms. Rubin is my real name, I got the response:

Are you lonely?

I guess she was asking if I was lonely without all my students? Still, weird. And she just emailed me again a few minutes ago:

When are we [classmates] going to get our paychecks? (PS, Your 27…)

Um, they get their paychecks every single Monday without fail, so I don’t know what that question is about. And I also don’t know why she thinks I’m 27, or that I need reminding of my (not actually correct) age. I guess I should brace myself for a lot of weird emails from this kid over the next eight months.

We read this article today about scientists who are working to turn turkey carcasses into oil, and on the reading response sheet I asked them what else they’d like to see turned into oil. The best response by far was, “Humans (if they’re already dead).” The runner up was one seemingly demure girl who wrote, “Poop, pee, and maybe vomit.”

This afternoon was pretty fun, since based on the success of last year’s staff vs. students basketball game we had a staff vs. students flag football game after school. Like last year, my crippling fear of team sports and airborne balls kept me from actually participating, but it was still fun to watch. The best part was spending like an hour hanging out with one of my morning first graders, whose mother teaches at the school and stayed to watch the game. I learned all the intimate details of her upcoming Halloween costume (“Belle! With a gold dress! And white shoes! And my very own white gloves!!”), as well as the latest in first grade humor (“How did the horse read the newspaper? With his HORSE SHOES!! Hahahahaha!!!”). Also, one of my least favorite students from last year got absolutely clobbered by a large male teacher, which was very satisfying to watch. What a nice way to end the week.