When you work with children, St. Patrick's Day takes on a whole new meaning. You are likely to get pinched if your green is not readily visible. Or if your shade of green is not green enough (apparently, to the 6-year-old eye, my turquoise shirt looked more blue than green today). This then prompted a discussion that it is not okay to pinch anyone, no matter what day it is on the calendar.
And now the big thing is for "leprechauns" to come make a mess and cause mischief. I've known a few teachers in the past who have messed up their classroom and left clues pointing to a leprechaun culprit, put it was mentioned all over the place today. Can anyone say "Elf on the Shelf"? I can't stand that particular tradition and frankly can't see how it serves any purpose. I mean, for a month the parents have to remember to move it around and stage messes for the children to be amused by each morning. And the point is that the elf will report back to Santa about he kids' behavior? This makes no sense to me.
But, I digress. Today one of my little girls starts in with, "Mrs. Carr, I have an idea. Let's lay a trap for the leprechaun." I nipped that in the bud with, "Nope. That's not something that we need to do here in first grade." Perhaps ten or fifteen years ago before the high-stakes testing and ongoing criticism of how we are spending our teaching days, making sure that everything has an educational purpose, but not today. We still have fun, but it's a different kind of fun. At least, I hope so.
Oh St Patrick's Day and the wearing of the green. I had a discussion with some kids about pinching those who weren't wearing green. It was "the law" they told me. A real law? Yes, they insisted. If I had thought about this earlier , we could have done some real research and found out if it was a "real law" or not.
ReplyDeleteI forgot it was St. Patrick's Day until I walked in and saw the outrageous amounts of green on the students and staff at our school. Oops. I am not an Elf on the Shelf fan either - so glad that came after my children were older. I never did the mischief makers in my classroom because it seemed like a huge headache, but I know teachers that have a blast doing it. I'm glad you're still having fun. Not all traditions have to be celebrated. ;)
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