Jingle Bells gets funnier

(Don't get excited; I stole this photo from the internet, but isn't it perfect!)

Oh my goodness, I've just got to share this teaching moment today.

So I was asked to teach a group of students two carols for the Christmas celebration on December 22 (which also happens to be my last day in India). So this afternoon I spent some time teaching my classes Jingle Bells. It was fun! I've never had the opportunity to sing, let alone teach, any Christmas songs in my school back home. In fact, I felt like someone was going to burst into the room and arrest me for singing "round yon virgin" and "Christ the Saviour is born." But no one did, and the kids just loved it.

After writing the words to Jingle Bells on the board, I drew a picture of a sleigh and an(unfortunate looking) horse. We discussed the meanings of the words, and of course the "bells on bob tail ring" came up. I gave the students a minute to dissect the suspect "bob tail" word to see if they recognized any parts of it.

And my dear, eager, little boy in the front row lit up. The conversation went like this:

"The horse's tail has bells on it!"

"You've got it; nice job!"
"And!" (he smiled with pride) "And the horse's name is Bob!"

I wish I could say that I respected the kid's effort enough to stifle my laughter. But I didn't.