The secret is out

I have been fielding lots of questions about Santa.  I have students on both sides of the question and some who are on the fence and want answers.  

I am firmly on Team Santa.  I will die on that hill.

I was having my literacy student create sentences about Christmas themed words.  There were elf and Santa and sled and snow and tree and a lot of other words.  They could create their own sentences using the words or a variation on the words.  Capitals at the beginning of sentences and periods at the end of sentences were non-negotiable.

And a comma at the end of the sentence was not OK.  (They asked.)

They were working along and one of them asked, "Are you Santa?"

I approached the sentence warily, thinking of all the other third grade conversations I'd had on the subject.

"You are Santa, and we're your elves!" he declared.  "That's why we have to do all the work."

Then a realization dawned on him.  "Wait," he said. "Are you a teacher so you don't have to do any work, so your students have to do all the work?"

Yes.  Because that's how the world works.  There are these sentences that need writing.  If I weren't a teacher and didn't have students to write the sentences for me, I'd have to do it all myself.

Here's the takeaway:  if you're tired of doing all the work, become a teacher.  You can make your students do all the work and your life will be easy town and you'll be the mayor.

These kids delight me.  Daily.  That's why I became a teacher.  (Them doing all the work is just a nice side benefit.)