Field Day

Before field day began, I taught my class a multiplication game using dice.  It was me against them (which is a good way for them to learn the game rather than me just explain the rules.  Ask me how I know...). They won.

And they were very sassy about it.

It seemed like the field days of my youth where I lost every race.

But field day is different now!  They go to stations and play games.  I had an uneven number of students so I was partners with one girl.  We were the last group going strong with the water balloon toss.  We just kept going and going and my student said, "I think we are the world champions at this!  We are crushing this!"

The aide running the station had us back away from each other and my partner dropped the balloon, it popped and our reign as world champion water balloon tossers came to an end.

I truly think it's the most successful I've ever been at field day.  I am as indoorsy as I am unathletic.

As it warmed up, my students began shedding their jackets.  I had told them ahead of time that I would not be carrying anything for them.

That doesn't matter.

A girl came up to me and held out her jacket for me to take.  She didn't even say anything.

I said, "I'm not holding your jacket.  I'm not your mother."

Another girl reminded me, "But you are a mother."  

I said, "True.  I wouldn't hold my kids' jackets either."

Two of the girls said, smugly, "My mom would hold my jacket."

I told them they were very lucky to have their mothers instead of me.  (Also later the same girl came up to me and demanded, "Where's my jacket?"  I said, "Remember how I said I wouldn't carry it?"  She said, "But I don't have it."  I told her to go look for it.)

At the nine square station, someone said, "Don't hit it to her!  You'll get out!"  They were meaning don't hit it to my most athletic girl.

I didn't say it, but I wondered if the strategy was to indeed hit it to the most athletic one so that you could get out.

That may or may not have been my best dodge ball strategy in elementary school.  Cary King and Tommy Morrow could catch anything, even my feebly thrown balls.  Then I happily got to be out.

Work smarter, not harder.

We made it through all ten stations of field day and we were tired.  Happily it was lunchtime.

While everyone was lining up, one boy laid his head on his desk and cried huge gulping sobs.  I sent everyone to lunch, crossing my fingers they would behave civilly down the hall and was finally able to ascertain the trouble. 

He'd lost his watch.

I told him I would help him find it, but that he should go to lunch so he didn't miss out on eating.

I searched for ten minutes and finally found it.

I found him eating lunch and said, "Is this yours?"

He said, "Yep," and casually took it from me.

You are most welcome.  It was my absolute pleasure....

They either give me cards and drawings saying I'm the best teacher ever or they are completely ungrateful and entitled.  There is no middle ground.

Later in the afternoon, we had the teachers vs. 6th graders kickball game.  This particular group of 6th graders has been unruly and disrespectful at times to their brand new soft spoken teachers.  

So the rest of the teachers were ready to trounce them and trounce them they did.

It's always nice to knock 6th graders down a peg to prepare them for 7th grade.

Since it's neither my first nor even second rodeo, I took a chair and sat in the shade.  I don't not participate in kickball because I'm old.  I've always been this way.  There wasn't an age where I wanted to play kickball.  Just now no one can make me.

I held Alissa's keys and phone and told children to put sticks down and instructed one of my students to put her tooth in her pocket when she lost it.  (They're always so flummoxed when they lose a tooth and they hold it out to me like I'm going to do something with it.)

At one point an errant ball came out of bounds right to me and I caught it and threw it back to the teacher who was playing first base.

All the teachers and Matt cheered wildly for me.

So I am going to call it a very successful field day.