We are sinking!

So in my classroom we have a system where I say "Land A'hoy!" and raise my hand to my forehead in search of the horizon and all my students stop, look, and listen with their hands also raised to shade the imaginary sun from their view of an imaginary horizon in the distance. It is cute, it works well, and it reinforces our Explorer spirit.

They other day Explorer 11 suggested that we change the call to "Mayday, Mayday!" and the students all put their hands on their heads above a shocked and horrified open mouthed silent scream. For a few days this worked brilliantly and we were all happy with the new attention call. Until last Friday when Explorer 7 decided to tell a funny joke during our class community circle. It was a joke he had seen on YouTube and it made the entire class cry in laughter. This kid is a pretty fantastic joke teller. We were already sitting on the floor, but had we been standing up I am sure some of us would have fallen to our knees with uncontrollable exuberance.

Here's the joke,

So now when I say "Mayday! Mayday!" the class bursts into fits of laughter and a few of them yell, "We are sinking, we are sinking!"

I think we'll go back to "Land A'Hoy"