My "Never Say" Vocabulary in a MS Classroom

If you are a Middle School teacher, you understand the necessity of truly filtering your vocabulary. Middle School students have an uncanny way of taking any word you say and turning it into something dirty or funny. In college we actually read a funny article about this where the author was listing out all the words you should never say in a Middle School classroom.

For example, I feel really bad for P.E. teachers who are forced to say the word "balls." While it seems extremely immature to any of us, you can count on some boy in class snickering and whispering "balls" throughout the rest of your class. You also should never say "do it," as in "Alright, kids, let's go do it!" For years my family and I have actually joked about this one because the students always think you're making a sexual reference. If you let yourself come down from your mature, adult mountain, it can actually be quite funny.

Last week, I added a new word to my "Never Say" Vocabulary in a MS class. I was giving a lesson, and I'm not even sure now why or how I used this word, but I said something to the effect of "You should not be deterred from writing," or something like that. Well without missing a beat, I heard some kid say "haha, she said da turd!'" Obviously he had mistaken my word "deterred" for meaning "the turd." I never even saw that one coming! So the entire classroom broke out in laughter, and I have to admit that I even cracked a smile and a giggle. I admitted to the class that we teachers have a list of "Never Say" Vocabulary, and that I was thankful to them for helping me add another word to that list.

Oh, how I enjoy Middle School students and all that they teach me! :-)