Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader???

So today, I had a doctor's appointment and had to take a half-day off of work. The substitute came in and I was getting the kids ready for the transition from Language Arts to Social Studies. I told the sub what was happening, where the sub plans were located, and suggested she read through them now and ask me any questions she had about them before I left. A note about sub plans: I always try to make them EXTREMELY simple. Since my first experience with a sub during my first year of teaching, I realized that not every person has a little something called "common sense". Thus, I have learned that making the plans as literal and easy-to-follow as possible, creates a more harmonious environment for the students, the no-brain sub, and for me upon my return. However, I digress. Anyway, the sub plan basically explained what the kids would be working on for the remainder of the day, and that my assistant would primarily be responsible for the class. So, as I'm in mid-transition, the substitute came up to me and said she had a question. I had written, "The students will be working on their colonial cartography project during Social Studies. Please walk around the room and monitor the groups." She says, "I've heard the word 'cartography' before, but can you just tell me what it means?" I wanted to tell her to ask the kids, since every single 3rd, 4th, and 5th grader in my class can tell me what cartography means, but I explained that it was just the making of maps. Clearly, this was my mistake for assuming that everyone was as smart as my 5th graders (and 3rd and 4th graders, for that matter). Next time, I'm sticking to 1 and 2 syllable words!!!