Hooray for Teachers!

I went into both Conner's and Anika's classroom last week to volunteer, like I have been doing for the last 6 years. It is not some great service I am performing, I just really like being there. I love to be in the classroom - seeing how my children are doing, getting a feel for the classroom climate, checking out the friends, etc. Anyway, I left feeling so happy for the teachers my kids have. Anika is very serious at school! She won't even wave to me or Jason if she happens to see us in the hallway at school - no talking, you understand! She is very self-motivated and does neat work! Her teacher is fit just to her! The classroom is open, all students were busily working on their own assignments at their own pace and moving forward when they were done. It was great. . .
Then, I move to Conner's class. I walk in and notice Conner sitting at his desk with a paper bag over his head. Of course there are eye holes and he has his glasses on over the bag to keep it in place. Mrs. Christensen (or Mrs. C) says off hand that he is being an example to the class that it is okay to be different - I am thinking it must be some kind of object lesson or something. Looking at my blank face, Mrs. C asks if Conner told me about the book they read - no! Apparently they read "Bag Head", a story about a boy who wore a bag over his head to prove the point of being different. Conner decided to bring a bag to school and wear it - Mrs. C says, "He's so creative!" I just laugh and Conner looks over at me coyly! The class then proceeds to tear apart newspapers all over the classroom to have a "real world" experience with decimals and percentages. The whole while Mrs. C is apologizing for the class being such a mess every time I come in. I love it! I hear so much criticism for teachers everywhere, so, I want to say Hooray for Teachers this week!