The Curious Incident Of The Shoes
So, I'm taking a year five class for the day and I'm about to start my afternoon lesson when suddenly a voice pipes up:
"Miss, William hasn't got any shoes on!"
This was a familiar situation. Last time I was with this class William had come in after lunch with no shoes on and when questioned said he hadn't had time to put them on. He had them with him though so I just made him put them on whilst I carried on with the lesson. I thought this was going to be the same story so I said:
"William, where are your shoes?"
Just as another voice calls out:
"Miss, Robert and Tom haven't got shoes on either."
Me:Ooooooookaaaaaaaaay Where are your shoes?
William: Mrs H (dinner lady) told us to take them off and Mrs G (year 6 teacher) said so as well.
Me: o_0 Why?
William: They got muddy cos we went on the grass.
Me: Surely she wouldn't have told them to walk round the school without shoes on? Didn't she say to put your pumps on?
Robert: No, she just said to take our shoes off.
o_0 At this point I'm thinking that this is highly strange because walking round without shoes on is really dangerous and if one of them breaks a toe or something then it's on my head (not literallly obviously - a chair leg is much more likely). I'm in a difficult position though because I don't want to override another teacher's instructions so I look into the year 6 classroom to try and find out what's been going on. Unfortunately Mrs G is on her PPA time. At this point the whole class is on hold whilst I sort this out. In the end I just said:
"Well, you can't walk round with no shoes on, go and put something on your feet."
So they did. End of story, right? Right? Wrong. Because these are children and children do wonderfully logical things that seem totally bizzare to grown up brains. Luckily my brain missed the memo about growing up.
Afternoon break arrives and all the children come back to the classroom. As they enter I notice Tom no longer has his pumps on. When I point this out to him he calls for back up in the form of Robert and William who are also once again walking around in just their socks.
Me: (attempting not to laugh) Where are your shoes?
Tom: Mrs G told us to take them off.
Me: What? Again? Oh no, am I going to get in trouble for making them wear pumps? Surely not? Children walking round with no shoes on in school is dangerous.
William: Shall we go and ask her if we can put our shoes on again?
Me: But you had your pumps on! Did she tell you to take them off too? I think I need to speak to her about this.
Rest of class: *create general background noise and chaos.*
William: Shall we go and ask...
Me: No! Just go and get something on your feet.
So they trot off but of course the class is now in uproar (although quiet uproar because they are a very very good class). I attempt to settle them down. Alex wanders back in, having just been to the toilet.
Me: *Looks out of door as Alex wanders in* William, Robert and Tom have been a long time. They're only supposed to be putting their pumps on.
Alex: They've gone to find Mrs G.
Me: What!? I specifically told them not to! Oh crap, Mrs G's going to think I'm absolutely insane sending some children to her to ask if they can put their shoes on.
Class: *creates general background noise and chaos*
Me: shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit
Mrs G: *arrives outside classroom with three boys* Did you send these boys to me?
Me: No!
Boys: *look guilty*
Me: *feels guilty because conversation was really more chaotic than I've made it look here and it's possible they didn't hear me say they weren't to go, but equally possible that they just decided to go anyway because they were worried about the whole thing*
Mrs G: *Tells boys off, sends them to put pumps on*
Class: *creates general background noise and chaos*
Me: I'm really sorry about this, they said you'd told them to take their shoes off but I just told them to go and put some pumps on.
Mrs G: I never said anything of the sort.
Anyway after more conversation the boys return with new improved footwear and I finally get to start my lesson. The rest of the day goes well and after school Mrs G comes to talk to me about the whole thing. Turns out that at lunchtime she had passed by just as Mrs H (dinner lady, remember) had been telling the three boys off for going on the muddy grass with their shoes on and had told them to take off their shoes and go inside for the rest of lunchtime. They were being slightly cheeky (because dinner ladies always get the worst of the kids) so as Mrs G was passing she had to get involved. Obviously she had no choice but to back up Mrs H with the 'take your shoes off' instruction, which is why they hadn't had any shoes on after lunch. At this point I felt it necessary to make absolutely clear that they hadn't been wandering round with shoes on for an entire lesson (not to mention break) and thus the conversation went:
Me: The thing is, I told them to put some pumps on after lunch because I thought it was a bit danngerous with them just wearing socks.
Mrs G: Of course. They shouldn't have been walking round school like that.
Me: So I don't understand why they had taken their pumps off again at break. They said you had told them to.
Mrs G: I haven't seen them all afternoon and they had to sit in the library at break because of what happened at lunchtime.
Me: o_O
Mrs G: *obviously believes the three boys had just taken their shoes off in a fit of naughty behaviour.*
Me: *puts two and two together and laughs* I think I know what's happened. They really did believe you had told them they weren't allowed to wear shoes all afternoon, that's why they kept wanting to go and ask your permission to put them back on again. Then when they went to the library at break they expected you to come in and thought that you would tell them off for having pumps on so before they went they took off their pumps.
Mrs G: *looks slightly surprised* Quite possibly.
Me: It makes sense in a strange kind of way.
And thus, child logic reigns supreme.
"Miss, William hasn't got any shoes on!"
This was a familiar situation. Last time I was with this class William had come in after lunch with no shoes on and when questioned said he hadn't had time to put them on. He had them with him though so I just made him put them on whilst I carried on with the lesson. I thought this was going to be the same story so I said:
"William, where are your shoes?"
Just as another voice calls out:
"Miss, Robert and Tom haven't got shoes on either."
Me:Ooooooookaaaaaaaaay Where are your shoes?
William: Mrs H (dinner lady) told us to take them off and Mrs G (year 6 teacher) said so as well.
Me: o_0 Why?
William: They got muddy cos we went on the grass.
Me: Surely she wouldn't have told them to walk round the school without shoes on? Didn't she say to put your pumps on?
Robert: No, she just said to take our shoes off.
o_0 At this point I'm thinking that this is highly strange because walking round without shoes on is really dangerous and if one of them breaks a toe or something then it's on my head (not literallly obviously - a chair leg is much more likely). I'm in a difficult position though because I don't want to override another teacher's instructions so I look into the year 6 classroom to try and find out what's been going on. Unfortunately Mrs G is on her PPA time. At this point the whole class is on hold whilst I sort this out. In the end I just said:
"Well, you can't walk round with no shoes on, go and put something on your feet."
So they did. End of story, right? Right? Wrong. Because these are children and children do wonderfully logical things that seem totally bizzare to grown up brains. Luckily my brain missed the memo about growing up.
Afternoon break arrives and all the children come back to the classroom. As they enter I notice Tom no longer has his pumps on. When I point this out to him he calls for back up in the form of Robert and William who are also once again walking around in just their socks.
Me: (attempting not to laugh) Where are your shoes?
Tom: Mrs G told us to take them off.
Me: What? Again? Oh no, am I going to get in trouble for making them wear pumps? Surely not? Children walking round with no shoes on in school is dangerous.
William: Shall we go and ask her if we can put our shoes on again?
Me: But you had your pumps on! Did she tell you to take them off too? I think I need to speak to her about this.
Rest of class: *create general background noise and chaos.*
William: Shall we go and ask...
Me: No! Just go and get something on your feet.
So they trot off but of course the class is now in uproar (although quiet uproar because they are a very very good class). I attempt to settle them down. Alex wanders back in, having just been to the toilet.
Me: *Looks out of door as Alex wanders in* William, Robert and Tom have been a long time. They're only supposed to be putting their pumps on.
Alex: They've gone to find Mrs G.
Me: What!? I specifically told them not to! Oh crap, Mrs G's going to think I'm absolutely insane sending some children to her to ask if they can put their shoes on.
Class: *creates general background noise and chaos*
Me: shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit
Mrs G: *arrives outside classroom with three boys* Did you send these boys to me?
Me: No!
Boys: *look guilty*
Me: *feels guilty because conversation was really more chaotic than I've made it look here and it's possible they didn't hear me say they weren't to go, but equally possible that they just decided to go anyway because they were worried about the whole thing*
Mrs G: *Tells boys off, sends them to put pumps on*
Class: *creates general background noise and chaos*
Me: I'm really sorry about this, they said you'd told them to take their shoes off but I just told them to go and put some pumps on.
Mrs G: I never said anything of the sort.
Anyway after more conversation the boys return with new improved footwear and I finally get to start my lesson. The rest of the day goes well and after school Mrs G comes to talk to me about the whole thing. Turns out that at lunchtime she had passed by just as Mrs H (dinner lady, remember) had been telling the three boys off for going on the muddy grass with their shoes on and had told them to take off their shoes and go inside for the rest of lunchtime. They were being slightly cheeky (because dinner ladies always get the worst of the kids) so as Mrs G was passing she had to get involved. Obviously she had no choice but to back up Mrs H with the 'take your shoes off' instruction, which is why they hadn't had any shoes on after lunch. At this point I felt it necessary to make absolutely clear that they hadn't been wandering round with shoes on for an entire lesson (not to mention break) and thus the conversation went:
Me: The thing is, I told them to put some pumps on after lunch because I thought it was a bit danngerous with them just wearing socks.
Mrs G: Of course. They shouldn't have been walking round school like that.
Me: So I don't understand why they had taken their pumps off again at break. They said you had told them to.
Mrs G: I haven't seen them all afternoon and they had to sit in the library at break because of what happened at lunchtime.
Me: o_O
Mrs G: *obviously believes the three boys had just taken their shoes off in a fit of naughty behaviour.*
Me: *puts two and two together and laughs* I think I know what's happened. They really did believe you had told them they weren't allowed to wear shoes all afternoon, that's why they kept wanting to go and ask your permission to put them back on again. Then when they went to the library at break they expected you to come in and thought that you would tell them off for having pumps on so before they went they took off their pumps.
Mrs G: *looks slightly surprised* Quite possibly.
Me: It makes sense in a strange kind of way.
And thus, child logic reigns supreme.