\u201cTen more minutes, ten more minutes,\u201d I reminded myself as I was sitting in class. It\u2019d been twenty minutes since recess, so Natalie would be coming back soon.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cMason! Are you listening to me?\u201d Ms. Ellis questioned. Her foot was tapping the floor so I knew she was mad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry Ms. Ellis, what was the question?\u201d I sighed. Two scoldings in one day, this must be a record for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are two differences between mammals and reptiles?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s easy,\u201d I thought. \u201cOne difference is that Mammals give birth to live babies, where most reptiles hatch eggs. Another difference is that Mammals are warm blooded and reptiles are cold blooded. Reptiles need an outside heat source to stay warm,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Ellis, does that mean that people are Mammals?\u201d Shirley called out.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes Shirley, that\u2019s right. Please remember to raise your hand and not call out. Mason, those were both correct differences, please pay attention even if some of this is review for you,\u201d she said then turned back to the white board. She was beginning to explain our in-class project on this unit. We were going to be assigned partners and given half an hour today to create a venn-diagram on the differences between Mammals and Reptiles. We needed to have at least four differences and two similarities. We also needed to have a picture representation of one mammal and reptile of our choosing.<\/p>\n
The assignment sounded easy enough. I just wondered who Ms. Ellis was going to pair me up with this time. When we get the chance to pick our partners, people only pick me because \u201cI\u2019m smart.\u201d I\u2019ve heard my classmates call me \u201cweird\u201d or \u201cnerd\u201d when they think I\u2019m not listening. It\u2019s not like a study a lot. I mean, I do my homework and I like to read, but I\u2019d call myself pretty normal.<\/p>\n
When I was \u201cstudent of the week\u201d I made sure to tell the class what I do outside of school. I thought that if people knew that I didn\u2019t study all the time, they\u2019d think I was \u201ccool.\u201d However, learning piano and playing with my ferret, Janice, didn\u2019t quite fit that category. The only thing that caught a lot of interest was my Lego building. Building models of cars out of\u00a0 Legos is something that my dad did as a kid. My mom calls it \u201cfather and son bonding.\u201d It\u2019s too bad we don\u2019t have Legos in the classroom anymore. When I was in kindergarten and first grade we had Legos to play with during free time. I had more friends then, but now it\u2019s forth grade and almost time for middle school. My \u201cnerd-iness\u201d is more apparent at this stage.<\/p>\n
\u201c…Shirley, you\u2019ll be paired with John. Felicity you\u2019ll be with Keith, and Mason, you\u2019ll be paired with Natalie today. She\u2019ll be back in about five minutes. Class, take a five minute stretch and bathroom break. I\u2019ll put the materials on your desk,\u201d Ms. Ellis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this real?\u201d I thought. \u201cI actually get to help Natalie with her school work?\u201d This was going to be fun. People don\u2019t like working with Natalie that much, it seems like we\u2019re meant to be matched.<\/p>\n
—————-<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHi, Mason!\u201d Natalie smiled. \u201cIt\u2019s… work time. We have… a project.\u201d\u00a0Natalie speaks a little funny, but I don\u2019t mind. She\u2019s always so nice to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cTen more minutes, ten more minutes,\u201d I reminded myself as I was sitting in class. It\u2019d been twenty minutes since recess, so Natalie would be coming back soon. \u00a0\u201cMason! Are you listening to me?\u201d Ms. Ellis questioned. Her foot was tapping the floor so I knew she was mad. \u201cI\u2019m sorry Ms. Ellis, what was … Continue reading Story Update: Start of 1st Classroom Scene<\/span>