MrCjolsen

Last year, the police came to our school and arrested a guy in front of the school just as kids were getting out. The kids were asking me about it and wanted to know what he was arrested for. I said probably for disturbing the peace. Of course, being first graders, their next question was "what's disturbing the peace?"

As an example, I said it would be like if I went out to protest there being too many cars on the road and stood at an intersection with my bike over my head and blocked traffic.

One boy raised his hand and said "wouldn't it be better to just do a trackstand?"

cvstodes

Fantastic.

TehK

Thats so awesome! I wish I was that cool in first grade...

HotTamale

fake

bats

pics or it didn't happen

MrCjolsen

Read more closely. I was giving my students hypothetical example. The student suggested that it would be better to trackstand. The conversation was real. The trackstand was not.

lamalex

This is fake, it's simple logic:
if(little kid know about trackstands) {
then he knows about being hip;
if(he knows about being hip) {
then he's on BF.
}
}

If he's not registered, then the rest cannot be true.

dijos

Cynikal 

It's Davis. Everyone can trackstand in Davis.

Cynikal 

I thought most people here were in first grade.

Boss Moniker

Haha, I can't imagine what you tell your kids. Keep trackstands out of the classroom.

And you spelled disciple wrong. Little ironic, don't you think?

BLIMP

There's no irony in shame.

goldenskeletons

heh heh, that was pretty good.



but it does sound like you've explained to these children what trackstanding is. i don't see anything wrong with that.

el twe

Reminder: MrC's first graders have painted two of his fixed gears.

MrCjolsen

And many of them are more interested in my bikes than in the letter g sound. Since this kid already knows the letter g sound, I'm not too worried. There are second and third graders at our school who can tell you the difference between moustache and drop handlebars, the effect of wind direction on a bike and how drafting works.

The other day we read a poem that was a translation from Spanish. It had the word vuelta. One girl pointed out to me that vuelta meant around. I brought in a Vuelta chainring and she made the connection.

skanking biker

sorry--i don't really mean it, but i am just compelled to be a d!ck here.

Thats cool how your kids all know about bikes and what not but I hope you don't teach spelling.

Boss Moniker

Eh.. probably a typo.

Now I remember you. Having your kids paint your bike is definitely less dorky then lecturing them about what a trackstand is..

marcusprice

kjohnnytarr

I like kids.

MrCjolsen

I have two bikes that I ride to work and park in my classroom. One is 27 speeds. The other is a fixed gear.

I get many questions about my bikes ...

Why are the tires so skinny? (they're 28mm wide)
Why do you have two water bottles?
Is the mirror so you can see behind you?
What's in the bag on your seat?
Why are the pedals so tiny?
Why is my name on your wheel? (asked by Alex)
Why is my name on the seat and they spelled it wrong (asked by Brooke)
Can you do a wheelie?
How come it doesn't have a kickstand?
Why does that say "Salsa?" My dad likes salsa.

They eventually want to know why I'm riding one bike or the other. Hence explanations about wind, weather, what I have to carry and why I like the one speed bike better than the 27 speed bike a lot of the time. I eventually revealed that I like the fixed gear because of it's "special capabilities". They were amazed. None of their bikes could do that. But then I told them that I couldn't ride backwards, but I could stand still, which committed me to a trackstand demo at recess.

First graders memories are short. By lunch recess they had forgotten the strange thing they had seen. Except for this one kid. He became obsessed with the idea and would ask me every morning if I did trackstands. He has also started asking me more technical questions as well. Unless the questions are about where babies come from, I generally oblige curious six year olds when given the opportunity.

marcusprice

right on! haha, im a youth worker. ive had alot of similar questions asked.

kjohnnytarr

I just switched my major to parks, rec, and tourism. It's a major that also tends to deal with outdoor programs for kids.

Anyway, I've started dreaming up a program that would basically teach kids to build, maintain, and safely ride their own bike, while also including lessons about craftsmanship, perseverance, attention to detail, responsibility etc. Like Outward Bound in the city, basically. Anyway, this reminds me of that.

pitboss

the whole "hip" crap is tiring. get a new routine

MrC - keep up the good work. your classroom is one of the better ones I have heard about (via here, of course). I tried to work bikes into teaching too - when I taught "The Great Gatsby" we did a webquest on the Jazz Age. When we discussed the Jazz Age, I worked 6-day racing into the curriculum, albeit briefly.

teiaperigosa

you are a good teacher

kemmer

You mean subroutine.