Monday, May 21, 2018

Vocabulary Lesson

About a week ago I overheard an unusual conversation between two sixth grade boys. "What are these?" one asked the other, holding up a pair of scissors.

"Shears!" proclaimed the other boy definitively, and they both laughed uproariously.

Such events are hardly uncommon, and I let it pass, but I was curious when I heard another student say, "Shears!" a few days later.

Not curious enough to ask though, until today. "What are these?" the first boy asked brandishing the scissors once again.

"Shears!" I answered.

He paused. "You know about that?"

"No," I shrugged, "I've just heard you say it several times recently. What are you talking about?"

If I expected something naughty, I couldn't have been further from the truth. "We learned about it in Family and Consumer Science," he told me. "These are scissors," he held out a pair with matching thumb and finger hole, "and these are shears!" He showed me a pair with a round thumb hole and a larger opening for more than just one finger.

"Ohhhhh," I said, impressed. "I did not know that."

I turned to the student intern who started today. "See, Maddy? This is what life-long learning looks like!"

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