sentences you might hear often

"those who can, do. those who can't, teach."
or so the saying goes.

this week, i realized something when a student decided to imitate me in class. it was rather harmless, since she is 3 years old. it was in the middle of my art class, when some of my students were getting a little unruly. it doesn't take much for them to completely lose interest in our art projects. we were supposed to make spiders, and they decided that it was more fun to throw the spiders at each other than to try to stick legs on them. anyway. i was telling some of them to sit down, and one of my students piped up, "okaaaayyyyy, sit down! now! 1. 2. 3..." i stood there in shock for a moment, because she sounded just like me! she imitated not only my voice and expression, but also my posture. huh?

when i was a little girl, my mom used to tell me that she felt like a broken record, telling my brothers and me the same thing day after day after day. i've noticed that being a teacher is not unlike being a mother in this regard. you say a lot of the same things over and over. so i've compiled a list of my most used phrases, in no particular order. i probably say each of these things about 50-100 times a week.

1. ethan...! sit properly!
2. OKAAAYYYYY everybody quiet down!
3. weber, stand up.
4. line up.
5. ethan, shhhhhh.
6. you're a (something)... (after someone has told either one of us an idea is stupid/nonsensical/moronic/illogical, chad and i just say this in response. it drives chris crazy. perhaps that's why we do it)
7. are you ready?!
8. no chinese.
9. wayne/max/andy, stop talking!
10. 1, 2, 3...
and of course
ETHAN!!!