May 25, ily

I took the first letter of each word in our target sentences, inspiration from Yana, and had the students guess, after explaining that the answer was not just a new word made of assorted letters. Believe me, they read “witps” like they were confident it was a real word. (Answer: Where is the police station?)

Once they caught on it was a bit smoother except for “Ioyl.” It’s on your left.

“Oh it’s I love your… wait.”

“Is love spelled with an O first?” I asked in disbelief.

“I love your leg!” Came a random addition.

“Okay, let’s talk about this,” I said excitedly, gearing up for a brief texting acronym lesson.

“Ily, what does that stand for?”

One boy in the back of the class cut through the quiet thinking with a confident “I love you”.

“Thank you,” I replied sincerely.

I can’t confirm that he went red but his shock over the sudden turn of events was clear over his mask.

There was a brief, pregnant pause before the class erupted in laughter. It’s good to know when a joke lands and it’s great to have a receptive audience.

Thanks folks, I’ll be here all year!