Kindergarten Drama
The oddest things become elaborate dramas when you’re teaching kindergarten. I was reminded of that today.
Twenty-two near-infants were put in my charge for 45 minutes. I decided to take them outside to play on the playground. In that span of time, two children got hit in the head with rocks, one was kicked in the face, one got a blister on her foot, a club was made banning boys, then a boy broke the code and went inside anyway without saying please, stones were thrown at another child several times, stones were thrown up the slide, a magical stone that was smooth around the outside but that had split in half was discovered, then someone stole it from that person, one child vandalized a wooden post with a pen she’d found, and one boy walked face first into a metal pole.
Here is one strange conversation I had with a little boy, E, and a little girl, K.
K says, “E kicked me HERE” (points to her face).
I say, “E, is that true?”
E nods. His nose is running.
I say, “Was it by mistake or on purpose?”
E says, “On purpose.”
I am shocked by his honesty and try not to laugh out loud.
“Why did you do that?” I ask him.
E thinks hard, “I….I….sometimes my foot moves and I don’t tell it to move.”
I look at him with concern, “No. When you tell your feet to move, that’s the only time they move. Watch me.” And I proceed to say, “Left foot move!” and I do a little jig with my left foot. “Right foot move!” and I do a little jig with my right foot.
E looks at me seriously, then at his feet and says, “Right foot move!” and then doesn’t move his feet at all.
I try a new tactic, “Well, did you think how you’ve made K feel?”
I turn to K, “When E kicked you in the face, did it hurt?”
K looked me in the eye and said, “Nope.”
The oddest things become elaborate dramas when you’re teaching kindergarten. I was reminded of that today.
Twenty-two near-infants were put in my charge for 45 minutes. I decided to take them outside to play on the playground. In that span of time, two children got hit in the head with rocks, one was kicked in the face, one got a blister on her foot, a club was made banning boys, then a boy broke the code and went inside anyway without saying please, stones were thrown at another child several times, stones were thrown up the slide, a magical stone that was smooth around the outside but that had split in half was discovered, then someone stole it from that person, one child vandalized a wooden post with a pen she’d found, and one boy walked face first into a metal pole.
Here is one strange conversation I had with a little boy, E, and a little girl, K.
K says, “E kicked me HERE” (points to her face).
I say, “E, is that true?”
E nods. His nose is running.
I say, “Was it by mistake or on purpose?”
E says, “On purpose.”
I am shocked by his honesty and try not to laugh out loud.
“Why did you do that?” I ask him.
E thinks hard, “I….I….sometimes my foot moves and I don’t tell it to move.”
I look at him with concern, “No. When you tell your feet to move, that’s the only time they move. Watch me.” And I proceed to say, “Left foot move!” and I do a little jig with my left foot. “Right foot move!” and I do a little jig with my right foot.
E looks at me seriously, then at his feet and says, “Right foot move!” and then doesn’t move his feet at all.
I try a new tactic, “Well, did you think how you’ve made K feel?”
I turn to K, “When E kicked you in the face, did it hurt?”
K looked me in the eye and said, “Nope.”
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