Schooling Ups and Downs

Yesterday was SO much fun.

Okay, you know how Hamlet is described as the "melancholy Dane?" Well. Danny, when he taught Hamlet, spent a day doing personality testing for the four personality types! He suggested this to me and I tried it and we had such fun doing it. My class has a Choleric, a Sanguine, a Melancholic/Sanguine, a Phlegmatic/Melancholic, and a Sanguine/Phlegmatic. They had such a great time going through the questions and laughing and comparing and discussing.

One of the classic moments came when one student looked up from the incredibly meticulous drawing he was working on to ask "What do they mean by detailed?" Ya. That would be you, pal.

I pointed out how their diverse personality types were probably part of the reason the class gets along so well...

Then came today. Whew. The kids came to class and within ten minutes trouble broke out. It was a small thing, really - one of the boys took one of the girls' water bottles. But that was just the straw that broke the camel's back, as it were. [Side note: on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire someone got out at the $100 question for saying it was the stick that broke the camel's back. It pays to know your cliches!] Up to the surface bubbled the wrongs of three months. People were mad in no time! So much for the class getting along so well...

The lesson plan was chucked. Well, I attempted it, but looked out upon sullen and flushed faces, and decided other things were more important. [Happy thing! In the mornings I pray for the Holy Spirit to help me to be the teacher I need to be, and to remind me of Him throughout the day. During this class I actually remembered to PRAY for help in dealing with the situation! That was a big deal for me, and I'm thankful.] Instead of reading of Hamlet and Polonius, we talked about give and take, personality differences (how handy that we'd just done the personality tests!), kindness, and going on a journey from where we were now as a class, to a place of harmony:) I encouraged them that they have a special class - uniquely close. They're lucky!

Then I resumed Hamlet. But I could tell some of them were still pretty upset. My poor choleric had been ganged up on, and was not recovering quickly. SOOOO, the lesson plan was scrapped again and we played the telephone/pictionary game! Fortunately they loved it. Laughter once more filled the classroom.

They were ten minutes late to their next class - I ran ahead of them to tell the teacher it was my fault. But I thought it was important.

I love that class so much. They are so much fun, and so fabulous. But they need to work on the whole "walk in love" idea. And we will work on that, boy howdy! They have incredible potential, and there's no sense wasting that in squabbling and needless barbs. So there are my recent adventures in school-world.

Man. I love teaching.