Captain America's true identity

Most of my Class 4 boys are obsessed with drawing comics of their favorite superheroes. They have a couple books with comics of these superheroes that I’ve never heard of before now, like Ben 10, Atom Man, Rin Tin, Captain America, etc., and I’ve had to confiscate their drawing books too many times after catching them drawing in class. During breaks or free periods, they’ll be huddled around a desk, copying drawings from their comic books. It’s so cute, I say.

Anyway, for their spelling homework, they must write their list words in alphabetical order, find the definitions for the words, and use each word in a sentence, so that on Friday they will be prepared to take their tests. This past Friday, when Dodzi turned in his spelling homework book, he waited until everyone else had turned in their books, and carefully placed his on the top so that I’d mark his first.

Dodzi is quite adorable. He’s one of the smartest kids in his class, and always does amazingly well on his homework and tests. He’s also very obedient in class and hardly ever talks out of turn. He knows all the answers in class, and when he raises his hand to ask a question, I like to call on him because he always asks smart questions related to what we’re talking about (unlike some kids who raise their hands just to ask me what my favorite color is).

This week, one of their spelling list words was “actually.” This was Dodzi’s sentence:

1. Captain America is actually Dodzi.

I was sitting at my table grading their homework while Sister Suzy taught maths, and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud.

I had no idea that one of my students has a superhero alter-ego!