I love this time of year! For me there truly is such a thing as the Christmas spirit. It fills me the day after Thanksgiving, and remains constant until the New Year. That is to say...as January moves forward into February, then into March, the Christmas Spirit moves back. By April it has tucked itself away into a place deep within me; the same place that houses my most cherished memories and best emotions. From April until the following November it sleeps there, undisturbed...no doubt charging itself up for the next Great Awakening.
I wish I could lie and tell you...The Christmas Spirit lives within me now, and all the year through! How Ebenezer in the final act that would be! No...I won't tell you that. Christmas sleeps while other spirits arise. By spring I am possessed by a new awakening, by summer yet another...then there is the fall! The Great Pumpkin rises from his patch and enters my soul. Just after, the familiar stirrings of the Christmas Spirit. A constant, never ending cycle. I love it!
During this time of year (Especially the month of December) in my classroom it is an especially warm, and delightful time for me. I see and feel the excitement my kids are feeling about the coming holiday, and days off from school. Each new day the kids get a bit more fidgety. A bit more chatty. A bit more animated! Being an educator that places Classroom Management at the top of the list of an effective teacher...I certainly maintain a sense of calm in my classroom...a stable, and structured environment. I also allow the Christmas Spirit to set up residence! This is not to say that I am any more lenient when it comes to the rules, or student conduct...it simply means that I remember. I know how each of my kids are feeling, and at times...deemed appropriate by me...I allow my kids to be kids and let their excitement out.
Sealing a lid on a boiling pot of water is going to cause a big explosion, right? Sealing a lid on a kid is going to have the same affect! At least once a day during December I make time in my classroom for the kids to cut loose, to have some fun, to sing, to dance...to be joyous! What I know is...allowing the kids to blow off steam will always create excellent students! a student sitting prim and proper all day long simply does not make logical sense to me...not at this time of year! When your kids have something to look forward to...they will work effectively, they will listen more attentively, they will move mountains! Dancing to Jingle-bell Rock takes only 3.12 minutes. Singing Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer takes only 4 minutes. That is enough time for the kids to get there excitement out in the open and validated. Do it at the beginning of the day...at the end...just before a test, or just after....makes a world of difference! Plan your classroom Christmas party...let the kids know it is coming, allow them to help plan it! LET THE EXCITEMENT HAPPEN!
Whoever reads this will probably think that this kind of thing is good for Grade five on down to pre-school. I say Crusty-Christmas balls to that...and here is why. Last week we (The teachers at JBM) had our annual Christmas party...food, drink and good cheer. School districts and companies around the nation are doing the same thing. Families have Christmas parties, hell even the SPCA has a Christmas party for the animals in the shelter! What I am getting at here is...every year I hear from my past students who tell me that they are not having a classroom Christmas party because according to their teacher they (The students) are too old for that kind of thing. If adults can frolic the night away under the mistletoe, and allow their Christmas Spirit to rock-out...why are sixth graders too old for a party? Why is it not appropriate for eighth graders to share some fruit-cake during Algebra instead of battling algorithms? Why can't a tenth grade ELA class haul out the holly for one day before break? I have no answers to these questions. I can only state that nurturing a young person towards adulthood takes more than just academics, rules and regulations. More than anything it takes heart, truth and the validation that what a person feels...excitement for the holiday say...is just as important as anything else worth learning.
To the teachers who get frustrated at this time of year with the excessive talking, fidgetiness, and over exuberant personalities in their classrooms...get a clue. Take a pill if you have to. Find the Christmas Spirit, hell fake it if you have to! Take a step back and allow your kids to feel it! It eases the tension, and allows for more productivity. Sixth graders are too old for a Christmas party? Hum-freaking-bug!
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