Blog Post #3: A Slice of Life (in PE)
Today was fun, it always is when I get to substitute teach in PE. And it's tiring, trying to keep kids engaged, having fun, learning the rules of a new game, comforting kids who bumped an elbow or knee, etc., etc. It takes a lot of energy.
For some reason second grade comes in first. Forty boys and forty girls. We'll jog/skip/gallop around the gym and get warmed up, and then it's time to tell them about the game. One of us blows a whistle and calls out "GRAPES, and the kids run to the center of the gym and cluster around the teachers, sitting cross legged, or as we call it "criss-cross applesauce." And then the real fun starts!
Next period, in comes first grade. The same routine, but with a little more explanation of what to do, including demonstrations.
Third period, in comes kindergarten. It's hard for the kids to listen to the teachers during grapes. They look around, especially at me because I'm someone new and different. Some have their finger half way up their noses, it is cold season after all. It must be nice to not care one bit about that kind of thing.
Kindergarten played a Pac-man tag kind of game, and from all outward appearances they had a blast. A few minutes before the end of the period each of the four classes line up at the door, and then their teachers lead them back to their classrooms. Someone always leaves a sweatshirt or sweater, so I've learned to make a quick scan and get everything back to the right kid. I'm a parent after all, and when my kid left a sweatshirt/fleece/sweater/you name it at school I was always a little exasperated. One little boy with kind of a goofy smile and red hair is chatting away with his classmates behind me, and as I watch another class walk out he sneaks up and hugs my legs.
Next comes third grade, followed by fourth and fifth. And then the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders have their turn. Bigger kids do grapes, too, but we don't call it that.
Once the day is over I have to run errands, and take care of all the other usual things. But I can't stop thinking about the little guy that ambushed me with that hug earlier in the day.
For some reason second grade comes in first. Forty boys and forty girls. We'll jog/skip/gallop around the gym and get warmed up, and then it's time to tell them about the game. One of us blows a whistle and calls out "GRAPES, and the kids run to the center of the gym and cluster around the teachers, sitting cross legged, or as we call it "criss-cross applesauce." And then the real fun starts!
Next period, in comes first grade. The same routine, but with a little more explanation of what to do, including demonstrations.
Third period, in comes kindergarten. It's hard for the kids to listen to the teachers during grapes. They look around, especially at me because I'm someone new and different. Some have their finger half way up their noses, it is cold season after all. It must be nice to not care one bit about that kind of thing.
Kindergarten played a Pac-man tag kind of game, and from all outward appearances they had a blast. A few minutes before the end of the period each of the four classes line up at the door, and then their teachers lead them back to their classrooms. Someone always leaves a sweatshirt or sweater, so I've learned to make a quick scan and get everything back to the right kid. I'm a parent after all, and when my kid left a sweatshirt/fleece/sweater/you name it at school I was always a little exasperated. One little boy with kind of a goofy smile and red hair is chatting away with his classmates behind me, and as I watch another class walk out he sneaks up and hugs my legs.
Next comes third grade, followed by fourth and fifth. And then the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders have their turn. Bigger kids do grapes, too, but we don't call it that.
Once the day is over I have to run errands, and take care of all the other usual things. But I can't stop thinking about the little guy that ambushed me with that hug earlier in the day.
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