A Tree Grows in…a 6-Year Old's Pocket?

The other day I’m in the middle of a lesson and I hear a very loud, very exaggerated sniff.  I look in the general direction of the snorfel and see a student sniffing grass…hey, it’s First Grade, folks, it’s not that kind of grass…it’s playground grass, people, I’m talking about real, live grass (or, at least it was live until my student picked it).  Anyway…

As I look over I notice his hand is moving from below is nose to below his seat partner’s…he takes his handful of grass, shoves it under his seat partner’s nose, and says, “Hey, get a whiff of this.”  His seat partner looks at him like, “What the heck?” then he looks at me like, “Do something…please!”  I give the student “sharing” the grass “the look” and I point to the trash can…and this is where it gets good…

Remember, he’s 6, and he’s a bit on the short side…so imagine a pint-sized 6-year old standing up…and as he stands up, what appears to be a tree starts to unfurl from his pocket.  I really wish I had the words to explain this, but…he stands up and there is literally a branch, with foliage and everything, bursting out of his pocket…truly, I don’t even know how he was able to sit down…I can’t even sit with my cell phone in my pocket, and this kid’s got branches, and leaves, and everything! 

The funniest part is that this whole little 10-second exchange does not faze him one bit.  He sees my look, sees where I am pointing, shrugs his shoulders, stands up all casual like, and heads for the trash can.  Of course, by the time he gets to the trash can, half of his “pocket tree” is now all over the floor.  I swear, it’s been days and I’m still finding parts of that tree around the room.

I can just my notes the first time I have a sub:  Make sure you check so-and-so’s pocket when he comes in from the playground…for trees!