In other words, I experienced a small miracle today.
By the end of the activity, all students were silent, and they were literally the distance of the entire gym away from each other. The concrete illustration of the income gap and growing differences between classes in society seemed to really hit home. After the activity, we circled up in the center of the gym and debriefed. What struck students were the differences that education and being born into privilege/$$ make...and that having these things almost seems random. And, they focused on this idea of a cycle that's, in the words of one of my students, "nearly impossible to break out of."
Another small miracle? The students participated actively and listened attentively, acknowledging the points of their classmates and adding on to each other's ideas. No shenanigans. No call-outs. No goof-offs.
Tomorrow, we may be back to "normal," but for today, my students made it count.
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In other news, my sister spent the entire day - from Mass to volleyball practice - at my school...well, minus the short trip she took to get us lunch. My students enjoyed doing the whole "double take" thing. The fourth graders tried to sneak a peak in the classroom while going to and from art. Parents enjoyed seeing double. My volleyball girls enjoyed the extra attention (and I enjoyed the extra set-up help)...
It's amazing - I guess twins really are a phenomenon. My "cool points" just went up...and she was an instant celebrity.
Next week, the tables will turn - it will be my spring break, and I'll head in to her school to spend an entire day with 2nd graders.
My mental preparation starts now...
yeah- it needs to start now -haha
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