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Jane Bogan's avatar

I had a 4th grader in one of my student teaching experiences. He would call me "Big Boss" - I'd ask him to work on his math or whatever and his reply was "OK, Big Boss!" One day, he made some kind of silly comment and I said "OK, smarty pants, let's get to work!" His reply was "Yes, I'm Smarty Pants - I'm smart and I wear pants. Get to work Big Boss!"

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John Wills Lloyd's avatar

That's a good one, Jane! Thanks.

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Special Education Foundations's avatar

Love this!!!! Yes he is smart and funny :)

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Miss W's avatar

Cracking up at "is the moon run by electricity?"

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John Wills Lloyd's avatar

It was fun!

Wonderful child. He could talk really rapidly, words tumbling into each other when he was explaining something. He could draw a jumbo jet (his special interest) in chalk on a concrete patio really well and accompany his drawing with a commentary (interrupted by brief periods of self-stimulation--moving his fingers in front of his eyes).

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Special Education Foundations's avatar

This post led me down memory lane, I will share two with you. I was visiting a preschool classroom for children with autism as part of my monitoring duties at the state education department. One of the little boys in the class kept staring at me, I'd smile back to his pondering, unchanging precious little face. Eventually he made his way over to me. Looking at me with intense eyes he asked "Are you a man or a woman"? Puzzled, I answered "I am a woman", he then, looking very confused, asked me how I could be a woman if I have hair on my chin! After leaving the class, I immediately looked into laser hair removal. The other story is sad and beautiful. There was a young man in my 6th grade class who was considered a student with Asperger's (the label at that time). In the middle of our science lesson, he stated that he wants to be an astronaut. I asked him why, he replied so he could see his dad who is in heaven. I will never forget him or the wonderful conversations we had. He used to make these amazing figurines out of rubber bands. I often wonder about him, he's old enough now to have a family of his own.

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John Wills Lloyd's avatar

Leena, wonderful recollections! Thanks.

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Jen Webb's avatar

I had a reward system to practice money as well as have an incentive to work, return homework, etc. One of my kiddos was an incredible saver and wasn't interested in playing cards or erasers. He wanted to spend time with me, and twice a year or so I would take him to Dairy Queen after school and then drive him home. My own children attended the school too so it really was a little party! (I had full parent and principal approval)

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Jen Webb's avatar

John, I'd love to hear more about your "experiment".

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