The Holidays

It's been awhile since I've posted, but the holidays are always a hectic time, and it's never less true than in the classroom.

The kids get infected with a restless spirit, which causes them to go a little insane. Just a little. They forget rules. They hit other kids. They throw things. They talk back. They spit sunflower seeds on my classroom floor (one of my students cleaned my entire classroom after that one...).

I don't usually write referrals. I think I've mentioned that before. It's not that I don't believe in them, because I do, but I generally take care of the behavior before it gets that far.

But this week alone, I wrote two. And I was out one day this week! And it's only Wednesday! One was for an 8th grader who ignored me when I told him to go back out of the hallway (because it's a 6th grade only hallway, and he was cutting through.) When he didn't, I told him if he didn't, I would have to write him up... I had to follow him to the front office to get his name.

Then, one of my students had a toy taken from him earlier this 9 weeks (incidentally, it was Trouble...). I told him he couldn't have it back until he earned it. So yesterday, he went to the sub that I had and lied to her, saying I had told him to come and pick it up, and then he went through my desk until he found it. I do not like children in my desk. And the fact he deliberately lied to the sub also made me unhappy. He's done it before, so this was the last straw.

Still, I want to focus on the happier aspects of the holidays.

Today in my critical thinking class, we talked about Hanukkah, and what it meant. It was really funny what the kids thought they knew about it, like the kids who celebrate Hanukkah get a full Christmas every day of Hanukkah. Like, as many presents as they get for Christmas, but every night. I was like... not really, dears. I compared it to them getting stockings... they get stocking-type presents each night, then the final night is something more substantial.

So that was fun, as the kids were getting all excited about learning about different cultures. Before I explained that they didn't get 8 Christmases, several wanted to "convert," but they called it "change over." They wanted to know who to talk to in order to change.

I have some decorations in my room... nothing that is not allowed, of course. My county has strict rules about what is okay and what's not okay, and I am careful to follow them... (I did get in trouble with the fire department last year during inspections, because I had hung Christmas lights from the ceiling and it wasn't Christmas...). I have Candy Canes cutouts all over the place, hung by magnets I cut up and taped to the back of the paper. I have a bear with a Santa hat on that says something like best teacher. I have some various other winter-y type things.

But my favorite thing? It has to be my Christmas tree.

I love the little thing. It's so cute. I have had a small tree in the past, like 1' tall, with tiny decorations.

But this year while I was at Walgreen's to get something I really needed, I spotted the trees on display. They were on sale... well, you could get a rebate, anyway.

They were pre-lit. They had many sizes, even. From about 1.5' to 6', and some had white lights, and some had multi-colored lights.

There were also those truly ghastly pink or white foil ones, but honestly, does anyone like those?

So my tree is 4.5' tall. It's covered in lights, and it is adorable. It's a little like the tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas, because it looks a little raggedy (apparently, balancing the branches on artificial trees takes skill; I've always had real trees at home). I bought some small little glass balls for it at the dollar spot at Target, and put them on with red and green pipe cleaners, so they wouldn't fall off onto the tile and shatter.

It was transformed! It looked like a REAL tree. Sort of.

I also told the kids to bring stuff in, since it still looked sad... One little girl brought me two tiny ornaments. She added those.

Another child brought a pack of drum ornaments from the dollar store, and a tree topper (which was too heavy by FAR for my little tree, causing it to bend in 1/2, making it even more like the Charlie Brown one... I fixed that by using another bunch of pipe cleaners and securing it to the top... it now is quite... sturdy...) One little disco ball was added recently.

And today, a girl brought a packet of tinsel. I told her that was a wonderful idea for the tree, and asked if she wanted to put it on (I let the kids put the ornaments they brought in on the tree themselves, which made them very happy, and me too, since I didn't have to drop everything to do it, because if I didn't drop everything to add it right then, they'd be very sad...)

She wanted to do it, so she did.

And may I say... she has an eye for... creative expression...?

She put it on like a 4-year-old does: by grabbing ball-shaped handfuls, then putting it on top of the branches. She almost used the entire package for my tiny little tree (I use only one packet at home for my 8' real tree, and it looks completely silvered.)

It was, and still is, hilarious. I sat and watched her decorate, and I laughed and laughed. Every few minutes, she would look at me suspiciously, but go back to decorating.

She finally finished, and had tinsel in her hair, hanging off her arms, her rear end, her shirt, and some in her socks. I told her, very solemnly, that she did a WONDERFUL job, and I loved it.

Honestly, I did love it, since I know she brought it just for me, since she knew I wanted more stuff for the tree, and my kids all know I love sparkly things, and color. I know she did her best, and she worked so hard to do it.

I was proud of her, but still, it was hilarious.

I nearly lost it when the next class came in, and one of my students said, "Ms. Language Arts Lady, what happened to the tree? It looks TERRIBLE! It has clumps...! And...!" She almost couldn't find the words to tell me about how it was wrong.

Then, suspiciously, she asked, "Did YOU do that?" I kept laughing, almost not able to answer. When I had assured her it wasn't me, she seemed satisfied, but begged to fix it. I said it was fine, but don't make a mess.

As I walked the kids to the bus this afternoon, I saw tinsel all the way to the bus stop. The stuff is insidious. It got everywhere.

And the entire trip to the bus, I laughed.

The kids must have thought I was nuts.

But I'm not... I'm just loving the holidays.