I want to be in kindergarten.
'Cause as far as I'm concerned, they've got it goin' on.
Saying how they feel at any given time, crying when they feel like crying and bursting into giggling fits when the moment strikes them.
Of course I'm not the best kindergarten sub. When they say something funny, I just about fall off my mini-chair and that's when all hell breaks loose because they take it as a license to run rampant.
As far as they're concerned it's the ultimate in positive feedback.
Suddenly, half of them are running around in circles bumping into each other. I swear they look like animated bowling balls while the quiet ones who take the hits mimic stationary pins.
Invariably somebody winds up with a goose egg on their face and now I'm running to the staff room to get an empty film container full of ice they keep in the freezer for just such occasions, then drying tears and scolding the perpetrator for not being more careful.
But really it was my fault for enjoying the moment too long while my class unravelled due (in no small part) to lack of leadership. They embraced the growing frenzy amid peels of laughter, tickled pink at their own sense of humour.
Frankly I can't blame them. I might as well have egged them on.
I can't say I have the best classroom control, but that's probably because I can't get mad at them. Besides, I think they're right to want to live in a 'state of nature' for as long as possible before realizing that breaking the rules is beginning to cause them more problems (and time outs) than abiding by them.
I once subbed in a grade 2 class that was most of the time, out of control. When I finally settled half of them down (over threat of "no recess!"), I cried out to the Gods in a desperate, exasperated, rhetorical tone:
"Can somebody please tell me, why we have rules"?
A little girl walked up to me and replied:
"Because without rules, there's chaos."
I looked at her standing there in all sincerity while everyone else grew more insane and suddenly I feel lucid and enlightened.
"That's right! Without rules, there's chaos! Look around you! This is a perfect example! And where did you learn such wisdom?"
"I heard it in a movie."
Nice.
Note to self:
Not only do these kids follow their instincts, they're not pretentious.
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Next time - Kindergarten: the art of expressing your feelings.
