Four days until the Break!
There are moments when I think I won’t make it alive. Last friday, one of my boys arrived and announced that he hadn’t taken his meds that morning or the evening before. Fortunately, he is a sweet kid trapped in a jittery body. After lunch he cam up to me to ask if he could go outside to run laps because he had a lot of energy. There was no one out there, so we came up with a plan B: emptying the book share boxes and reorganizing them. He was back to normal yesterday, but I sure needed a drink Friday evening.
Like many schools, we are hyper-vigilant about behavior before any break. School-wide, we are on the lookout for “secret behaviors” and although my 4th graders get excited by this, I have found the most effective way to redirect their behavior is to remind them that Santa is watching. Some fourth graders still believe and I let those kids know that Santa consults with teachers. For the kids who no longer or never believed, I make it humorous.
Many of the kids at my school are poor and won’t have a TV version of Christmas. They will probably have a meal with their family. Many have been adopted by various organizations. We are writing stories about wishes right now and, though some kids are writing about wishing for “stuff”, many others are writing about being together with their family, making Christmas happy,making life easier for their parents and other generous ideas. I think they might actually get the meaning of the holiday season.
booksandbassets 