Onomatopoeia

I went to the bathroom. I had to go, and I asked all of the kiddos in my class to come up with a word.

I told them when I came back to the screen (we were on a Zoom call) that I would try to guess the word they had decided on together.

I was gone for less than two minutes.

I sat back down in front of a screen to these faces I’ve come to enjoy spending time with everyday, since the quarantine started.

I looked at them, snickering and laughing amongst themselves. Because they knew I would never guess the word. A group of young ones who haven’t all met each other in person, but have gotten to know each other through our daily sessions.

I guessed.

Anteater?

I received a resounding “No”, from all of them.

“It feels like a long word to me,” I said.

They agreed in unison.

After a few more guesses I asked them to tell me.

‘Onomatopoeia’.

This was the word they had decided on as a collective.

I’ve never heard this word before, nor do I have any idea what it means.

For the next three minutes they explain it to me.

Okay, I get it now.

Definition of onomatopoeia

1: the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz, hiss)

So, it’s kind of like me every morning when I wake up in this pandemic and let out a ‘FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’ followed by, “oh I’m here again today”.

And yet, I can’t wait to see them again every day, because they teach me something new every time.

And that makes me think, you might assume it was an onomatopoeia of the sound my ‘FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF’ makes as it flies through the air each morning.

And yes. Indeed. It is.

I also just used it in a sentence. I feel successful in learning from my students. As it is meant to be.

The lesson is: The teacher will be the student. If they are open to it.