After yesterday's calm and reassuring day, today was on the other end of the spectrum. All the 'warm fuzzies' I was feeling last night about how well my class had behaved were lost today as our noise and energy levels seemed to triple over night. We were going 'buggy' to put it mildly.
The "dance of the snow bunnies" (a phrase I've stolen from another K teacher) was especially wild today. It seemed to be more chaotic than ever trying to get 26 little bodies into snow pants, boots, coats, hats and mittens for recess. Then 15 minutes later (much shorter for some) it was time to reverse all that energy and put everything back into some semblance of order in the coat room. And once we DID get back into the classroom, some of the children were still in recess mode. (wrestling with each other, loud voices, crawling around, you name it) We took time to review several rules for recess and expectations for the classroom.
As the day went on, things did improve a little and so, at the end of the day, we accepted an invitation to visit the 7th grade science room to see their collection of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. The Kindergarteners LOVED it and were braver than I could ever dream to be. They touched, stroked and even held the creatures with interest and enthusiasm. The 7th graders were very knowledgeable about these multi-legged 'monsters' and my students asked lots of interesting questions. I learned a lot myself. It seemed like a perfect end to our buggy day!
