The Grumpy Side of 60
I can spell crocodile
By Bob Robinson

She stood up and walked around her classmates toward me… her eyes were fixed on the book I was reading.

Uh… actually no… they were fixed on my hand… uh… no… they were fixed on my ring.

I was a “novice” sub at the time. I just kept on reading. She reached my hand – the ring – and started running a finger over the shield and other etchings that make a Texas A&M “Aggie” ring one of the most recognizable rings in the world.

It isn’t unusual to see another former student in Dallas, Atlanta, Paris or Berlin, and introduce yourself. I’ve had fellow Aggies come up to me in restaurants, shopping malls… even on the street. All because of the ring I’ve worn for 45 years.

But it has never attracted the interest of a 7-year-old first grader.

This was only the second or third time I’d subbed at Woodland Heights. I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to do, so I kept on reading.

Then another student stood up from the carpet where the rest of the class was sitting. He joined the girl and started running his fingers over the ring… then another… and another…

Before I knew it every single student was gathering around. Call me a slow learner, I guess. It finally occurred to me that the reading session was over.

I gave them a couple minutes to look and touch and then told them it was time to sit back down. I looked at the girl…

“Why did you get up, sweety?”

“It’s beautiful.” The ring? She nodded vigorously.

“What’s beautiful about it?”

“It’s a pretty yellow and sometimes it sparkles. I like all the ridges.”

The ring doesn’t sparkle (unless the sun might have hit it) and the yellow is more like a dingy gold or copper, but that was her perception. The “ridges” are intricate… shield, wreath, star and more. We talked a little bit about it and why I wore it. I guess that satisfied their curiosity because we were able to move on.

I think I learned a lesson that day. You can read to children and teach them a love for reading. You can instill in them a love for learning, but they have to learn the “process” first for that to happen.

Children are sponges. They soak everything in, even – evidently – college rings. They’ve been learning since the day they were born by listening and observing, experimenting, copying and formulating questions.

My mentor at Edison Community College – Brad Reed – prepared a statement that I used in my technical writing classes… the college process is commonly called the “adult learning model.” He said the name isn’t accurate because that is precisely what “children do when learning about the world before they enter the regimented school system.”

I think I saw it in action.

No student since has ever taken notice of my ring. By then, I’d learned a few things and the kids were well into their new learning process. We’d do letters and numbers, then words, then science and more. We’d talk about the world around us.

And we’d have spelling and math bees…

“Spell cat.” “That’s easy! C-A-T.” “Spell jump.” “J-U-M-P.” “What’s 10 plus 11?” “21!” “Nine minus three?” “Six!” “Spell table.” “T-A-B-E-L…” Nope. “T-A-B-L-E.” Good.

Pause. “Spell… crocodile.”

They laughed. “That’s too hard!” they said in unison! “Yeah. I tricked you,” I said, grinning. “You guys are too sharp for me.”

That was late spring. Toward the end of summer at the Great Darke County Fair, a little girl ran up to me. I remembered her from class… “Mr. Robinson! Mr. Robinson!”

“Hi sweety!”

“I know how to spell crocodile!” And proudly she spelled it for me.

She got a high five for that… and a big grin from a grumpy old man.

Published courtesy of The Early Bird