The things that amuse them...

In my class I have a zero tolerance policy for kids who are doing thing they shouldn't be...whether it's talking to their neighbor, changing seats in the middle of class, wandering around, looking out the window, shouting out the window, playing with toys - you name it - I do my best to keep my classes in order and on task (although some classes are definitely more up to the challenge than others...)

The thing that probably bothers me the most is when kids are fiddling or playing with things in class. They KNOW that I'm going to take the item away and that they can have it back after class...but it doesn't stop them from trying. Since I've been here I have collected a rather odd assortment of items which include...
- books (like "Twilight"...how could someone NOT notice you reading a 300 page book in class??)
- magazines
- scissors
- glue
- original drawings
- rubix cubes
- gum
- gum wrappers (the kids just learned a new magic trick...which is REALLY awesome...outside of class...)
- markers
- notes (which I have literally watched children EAT in front of me rather than throw away in the trash where they could be found...)
- homework and notebooks from other classes
- Picture cut-outs of Justin Beiber and Beyonce from different magazines
- cell phones (which the kids at NPH aren't even ALLOWED to have until they are in their year of service...so how a kid in 7th grade got two different ones on two consecutive days mystifies me...)

And today I added to the list NAIL CLIPPERS. Seriously. Really? The things that they find to keep themselves from being bored in class are amazing...