This is, quite possibly, my all-time favorite second-grade story. Was retelling it to friends recently, and decided that it most certainly belongs on the blog, particularly since I almost named my blog after it. [Actually, I only told half of the story that night (sometimes it takes me a really long time to get to the point), and never quite made it to the punch line. So this is for you, JS! Now you know...]
Several years ago my only two second grade boys were best friends and polar opposites. James was philosophical and quirky, with his feet just barely on the ground, while happy-go-lucky Matt, concrete to the core, strongly influenced our classroom culture each day.
This contrast made for plenty of humorous moments throughout the year (another day, another blog post), but my favorite Matt and James moment was in relation to our class behavior incentive.
Matt was all about motivation -- a big fan of prizes in any form. Naturally, he was the number one fan of my class reward system, which consisted of two things: a drawing of superballs in a jar, and the promise of a party when the "jar" was full.
One of the easiest ways to earn a superball was for everyone to be at his or her desk working quietly when I returned from brief errands outside the room. Thus, that year, any time I walked out the door, I heard Matt directing, "OK, everyone! Sit down! Be quiet! Remember the superball!"
Lucky for him, all of first grade toed the line enthusiastically (they were all girls, and they were all in love with Matt).
James, on the other hand, wasn't as impressed by Matt OR the superball jar.
One Wednesday, I walked in just in time to hear James say condescendingly, "You know, Matt, if we didn't get a superball, it wouldn't be the end of the world..."
In all seriousness, Matt replied, "I KNOW it wouldn't be the end of the world, James. If ALIENS were coming, THAT would be the end of the world!"
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I submit that Matt is equally a philosopher in his own way!
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