Maybe it's a little early in the game to be thankful for something that merely marks the end of something else. But, im in bed, it's well past my normal teacher bed time, and thinking about today, I've decided I am most thankful for Fridays. In general. But today, specifically.
Fridays at school are long awaited for several reasons. For starters, you can wear jeans. Y'all don't even know what that means for me in the winter. It's no big secret that I abhor cold weather. And early mornings for that matter. Couple that with the pre-DST dark, dark morn, and you've got a recipe for me hitting snooze until 6:25 (which, for me, is late. I used to leave by 6:30)! Jeans mean that I don't have to figure it out. Anything goes with jeans. I love it.
Fridays are also great because I can go a little more lax with the kiddos an not feel as bad. And by lax, I don't mean easy; I mean fun! Several times today I thought about how I have the coolest job in the world. Granted, it is balanced by the several other times today that I worried that 2:59 would not come soon enough. Regardless, today I deviated from my plans a bit, took longer to do our theme activity, and had the kids become chefs! We made chef hats (a sentence strip band with tissue paper stapled to the inside!), then made dough by mixing flour, corn starch, salt, and water, then practiced being iron chef and working until the timer rang! They brought their creations up to the table to dry and were SO excited! In fact, one sweet friend told me, "Ms. DeBaylo, you make the best creativity ever!" (which is kid-speak for "you're awesome!)
Today, rather than getting uptight about how they clean or prepare during our transition song, I let the song play and I didn't even look. I told myself this was their time to do it their way, and when it was over then I could worry about it. And you know what? The world didn't end.
Nor did it when their desks were covered in sticky, doughy residue. So, I spray shaving cream on each desk an let them rub it around for a bit. We played a game in which each table raced to be the first to write the letter I sounded out in their shaving cream! First table all done earned skittles! (let me tell you, the things they will do for skittles!) They LOVED it! And you know what? I did too. I loved that they were having fun. That they were hands on. That they were learning and excited to do so!
This Friday was also especially great because I got to leave at 3:40, AND got a nap when I got home! It was glorious!
My eyes are drifting so I have to finish later. But I am thankful.
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