After nursing flu symptoms all week, I got a call to head in for 5th grade on Friday morning. Although I wondered if I'd be able to get through a day of classes without coughing up a lung, I decided my bank account would appreciate it more if I went in. They told me the teacher was well-organized and that it should be a pretty straight-forward day. That was putting it mildly.
Fifth graders are pretty organized themselves. They knew whose turn it was to run morning meeting. For the first 25 minutes of advisory they ran it themselves and disciplined themselves and even were kind and inclusive. It was a good meeting in which to participate. And then, the next order of the day - MOVIE! Because they had finished reading "How To Eat Fried Worms" the day before, the teacher had elected to let them watch the movie on Friday via the SmartBoard. Thank goodness the teacher next door knew the password because I didn't! We ALMOST got through the movie - we had to pause it for the last 10 minutes while we got in line to head to the all-school assembly.
Bonus #2. ASSEMBLY. Because the students had been working hard on their MCAS testing, it was time to participate in a Benny Rubin Friday (TAKE-A-BREAK!). For an hour we heard an international story teller tell us Celtic stories (accompanied by his harp), African stories (accompanied by his hand held mbira), and some Aesop Fables (accompanied by his guitar). He was entertaining, he encouraged participation, and he had the kids and adults singing along and clapping their hands.
The hour ended quickly - my group was absolutely the best-behaved in the room! We quickly had to head back to the classroom because it was time for recess/lunch. Phew, this day has me hopping!
After lunch we had to line up once again, it was time to head to the library for their 45 minutes of quiet reading time. It was quite refreshing to see the kids retrieving their books from their lockers so they could return them and pick out new ones. Interesting note left for classroom teacher: "Please be certain to ask the kids if they'd like to do a project on Michelangelo. They certainly enjoyed passing around the book that showed photos of his statutes - apparently it was quite interesting, as they were enjoying giggling at the photos." Oh my, 5th grade humor....
And from the library it was time to head, once again, back up to the classroom. We quickly watched the last 15 minutes of the movie before the class had to prepare themselves to head down to the gymnasium. They were done for the day in my classroom and they would not be returning there before dismissal. Holy cow! I thought I would be done at 1:15. All I had to do was check in at the office. Bad choice, I should have snuck out the back door.
Actually, they said, the art teacher had canceled - would I be able to stay and supervise the 8 kids in the art classroom. Instructions were left, they were mid-project, it would be easy! Well, anyone who knows me knows I don't like dirty hands. I don't mind digging in the dirt mind you, but I do wear gardening gloves. The project of the day was paper mache. Instructions were left okay - instructions on how to make the paste! I was dry heaving as I mixed the flour, water, and added the glue! Kids would be sticking their hands in this and prying off the excess as they dipped newspaper into the liquid. (I can't believe I had to supervise this - me, the mother who would only let her kids eat Popsicles in the bathtub or swimming pool so they wouldn't get sticky!!) The kids dove in, they were loving it, talking, flicking their hands around, having paper stuck to their fingers....it took everything in me to keep my composure!
I do believe in Karma...I was so thrilled to have a wonderful Friday sub day planned - movie, assembly, lunch, library....I should have been more appreciative, should have known it couldn't have been so smooth. Karma came down and slapped me in the head - those sticky, slimy, paste covered karma fingers...Eeewww!
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