It won't work!

This week, we began working on division with remainders. Most kids picked it up fairly quickly and the others got it a few minutes later. But, there was one kid who did not get it...poor Victor. As I wrote down a problem on the board and waited for the kids to solve, Victor shouted, "It won't work!"

Me: "I know it won't be even. That is what we are practicing."
V: "'No, it doesn't work. You can't do it."
Me: "You can do it, but you will have some leftovers."
V: "No. 31 and 4 don't work." (Keep in mind I used 31 because it's his favorite number and thought he would like the problem.)
Me: "I know. 4 can go into 31 some. How many times can it go in?"
V: "7, but it's not even!"
Me: "There you go. How many are left over?"
V: "It doesn't work."
Me: "It's not even. There are leftovers. That is what we are learning. So how many are left over?"
V: "3, but it's not even."
Me: "There you go. What's the whole answer?"
V: "7 remainder 3, but it doesn't work because it's not even."
Me: "So what is the answer again?"
V: "7 remainder 3"
Me: "Good job, you got it!"
V: "It's not even!"

We continued more practice and I had this discussion for each problem we did! He knew the answers, but didn't like "uneven-ness". We'll see how the follow-up lesson goes on Monday and see if he's learned to cope with the remainders by then.

Hurricane of a day!

We found out late yesterday afternoon that today was going to be an early release because of the hurricane that is headed towards Galveston/Houston. Austin was trying to prepare for the evacuees from the coast. Some of the kids knew when they arrived at school and I informed others that school would be releasing at 12:45. This was a bit difficult for Richard to understand...
R: "My mom doesn't know today is an early release."
Me: "How are you supposed to get home?"
R: "My mom was supposed to tell me. She doesn't know that today is an early release."
Me: "I understand that you don't think she knows about today, but how were you planning on getting home today?"
R: "The bus."
Me: "Then you are still going to ride the bus. It's just going to leave school a couple hours earlier than usual."
R: "But my mom doesn't know it's an early release."
Me: "It's okay. You are going to ride the bus and get off at your house."
R: "But she won't know and won't be waiting on me."
Me: "But you know where your stop is?"
R: "Yes, but my mom won't know that I will be coming."
Me: "Is she home today?"
R: "Yes, but she won't know that I'm coming."
Me: "It's okay. If she is going to be home, you can just get off at your stop and walk to your house."
R: "But my mom won't know that I'm coming."
Me: "It will be okay. Just get on the bus today, get off at your stop, and then walk to your house."
(I would like to say this is an exaggerated conversation, but that would make my life easier.)
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Some things are funny...it's natural. I try to make the day fun for everyone, but some kids find humor in things that aren't really funny. Because of the hurricane and their never-ending questions, we watched the United Streaming video on Hurricanes. The kids loved this. I explained that I was not a hurricane expert and this video could explain things a bit better. We also looked at Ike's track on www.stormpulse.com. We talked about where they weathermen predicted it would go and also about future hurricanes. I read the list of names for the rest of this year's hurricanes and one of them was also the name of a child in our class. Well, this is what Victor found more hilarious than necessary. He began rolling on the floor laughing hysterically about the hurricane having the same name as the kid in our class. According to Victor's response, there hasn't been anything more funny that's happened in his life. Imagine a child rolling on the floor and laughing hysterically...he was unstoppable!