I have to tell this funny story before I forget it. Our school has had a lot of changes this year, the biggest being that we are now two schools combined into one. Last year our school board decided that, in an effort to save money, we would combine our two elementary schools into one and put everyone into one building. A few other teachers and I were talking about a month or so into the year about how the changes were effecting everyone and I made the comment that I hadn't seen any of the school board members or district personnel at our school this year to see how things were going.
Lo and behold, a few days later my principal came into my room and told me that the next day the school board members would most likely be coming into my room and a few others to see how things were going. I wanted to prepare my students ahead of time so that they were on their best behavior. I told them that we needed to have an important talk. I believe in telling kids the truth, so I started by explaining to them why the two schools were put together and we talked about the changes they all were experiencing, etc. I told them that some very important people were going to be visiting our class the next day to see how we were doing with the changes. They asked who the people were. I figured that the words "school board members" wouldn't mean anything to them, so I explained that they were the people who made the decisions for us at school, such as what rules we should follow, and really important things like how much money we spend on things at school, and even sometimes what we learn. I then asked the class to tell me what kind of students they thought the school board memebers expected them to be. One boy who is so quiet and innocent and never yells out or anything, jumped up and said, "Idiots!" I was so taken back, I looked at him and asked him to tell me again. He said the same thing with such innocence on his face that I could tell that he was serious. I got the giggles and so did the rest of my class. This was one of the few times I haven't been able to "get a grip" - I couldn't quit laughing. This boy looked like he might start crying. I asked him why he thought that and he said, "You know, so they'll give us more money and won't make us learn as many hard things."