This Never Happened

On Friday, the superintendent and principal stopped by during our reading block.  I was working with a small group of students at the time.  All other students were working on one of their Daily 5 literacy choices.  Both adults chatted briefly with a few students.  Here's the conversation between our principal, Alex, and Braeden (as reported by the boys):

Julia:  Hi boys.  What are you working on?
Alex:  I'm trying to figure out the genre of this book.  Can you help me?
Julia:  That's historical fiction.
Alex:  Umm...I thought you'd be like Mrs. Foster and say "what do you think it is."  I thought you'd tell me to go look at our genre posters.  I might get in trouble because you told me the answer.
Braeden:  Just write "HF" and pretend "nothing happened here!"
Julia:  Yes, let's all pretend nothing happened here.

I love soooo many things about this conversation.  First, I love the mischievous smile on Braeden's face when he recounted his part in the story.  I love our principal's sense of humor and the way she connects with the kids.  Most of all, I love that just four weeks into 3rd grade Alex knows exactly what I would have said to him, had he asked me the same question.

He's right, too.  That's exactly how I would have responded; in fact, I use the phrase "what do you think it is" all the time.  Because we've been together for so long, Alex knows my style, my methods, and my expectations so well that anything else is a surprise to him.