As my first graders entered the classroom this morning, I could feel the excitement in the air. Why? It's St. Patrick's Day! Kids were wearing green shirts, green sweaters, green hoodies and the like. Some even wore green headbands and green flowers in their hair. Green was all around. One of m my first graders walked into the classroom and as he took of his coat and backpack to get settled in, he must have noticed that most of his friends were wearing green. He came over to where I was standing and announced, "Mrs. Ruckes…my mom forgot to dress me in green." I assured him that it was o.k. that he didn't have on green. After all, it's not like Halloween where you are expected to have a costume. If he thought I was going to call his mom to ask her to deliver a green shirt, he was mistaken. When I was a kid, if you didn't wear green, other kids would pinch you for the entire day until the teacher forbade them to do so. I'm so glad that tradition is no longer popular.
As I think about St. Patrick's day, I'm considering a few things:
Next year maybe I'll purchase a few green necklaces that kids can borrow if they forget to wear something green. It's no fun feeling left out because you didn't remember to wear green on St. Patrick's Day.
On the other hand, another first grader walked into the room wearing an enormous headpiece. She looked like a court jester. As she shook her head, the various pieces moved in different directions. Before I knew it, she was surrounded by a group of admirers. I could tell that it was going to be distracting so I instructed her to place it in her backpack where it would be safe.
First graders get very excited about everything! That's what I love about teaching 6 and 7 year olds. How do you include the fun stuff and not have it distract them from learning? It can be quite a balancing act.
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