Teacher Thoughts: Kids Being Kids

Alright here's the deal. I teach 6th grade Language Arts at a low income/high needs middle school. Our school received a D rating from the state based on out standardized test scores from the previous year. Our days are long and tempers are short for everyone involved: students, teachers, administration, secretaries. Stress is at an all time high as we strive to rise above this label and meet the standards set. Class time is intense and focused which leaves little room much else. 

We are at the end of the first 9 weeks which means report card and testing time. Students are rushing to turn in missing assignments and teachers are struggling to stay afloat with the papers piling up. I don't think I have ever met a teacher that does not want every child to succeed. And because of their kind hearts, their minds and bodies take a toll as they pull out every last-ditch effort to help these kids out. 

Well, my grades are posted. The quarter is over. But, we still have school today. I awoke this morning thinking..."I am SO done. I just want to breathe today." Then I figured that my poor kids probably wake up feeling like that a lot! And they are just kids. Let me repeat that. They. Are. Just. Kids. So, I made an executive decision for RM. 219. GAME DAY.

On rare occasions (such as today) I pile up all of our family's favorite board games and bring 'em to school. I set them out on the tables and the kids enter the room with the instructions to, "sit wherever you like, just DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING ON THE TABLES". I watch for a few painstaking minutes as they sit wide-eyed with twitching hands. And then... we play. We play Uno, Jenga, Connect 4, Battleship, Apples to Apples, puzzles, and we color. Yes, you read that right. I said WE. You can bet your bottom dollar I won't miss out on a loose Jenga piece, or a one-on-one Connect 4 challenge. These are my favorite days.

I love to teach. I love watching my students learn and make connections. But I also REALLY love watching them JUST BE KIDS. After all, that's what they are. And sometimes when the stresses of high-stakes testing, and state standards rise up within me I tend to forget that. 

So today, I think I'll just sit back, relax, and enjoy watching these kids...being kids. 

<3,

Mrs. F.