Kids these days. If you've spent time, in any capacity, with urban kids in California, you know that very few of them have ever experienced snow, thunder, lightning, or any meteorological wonders other than the occasional minor earthquake (at least in their lifetime...so far...).So when the hail started pounding down around 2pm this afternoon, it was no surprise to me that screams erupted from each of the classrooms which surround mine. Cries of, "Ice!!" "Snow!!" "There's a snowstorm!" could be heard echoing from the walls beside mine. The pounding of hundreds of sets of feet could be heard as classrooms full of kids rushed to the windows, with little self control, to experience this unknown "ice."
What happened in my classroom, you ask? Heads turned towards the windows, but no one went wildly out to see. A boy raised an eager hand and asked, "Ms. Krasnow, do you think we could go outside for a minute and play in the hail?"
RAISED HIS HAND TO ASK.
I swear, given the chaos I clearly heard erupting next door, I was impressed with how well my students knew me.
They know that I'm reasonable.
They know that I listen to their needs.
They know that if they're disrespectful, they lose all sorts of privileges.
They know that I'm reasonable.
They know that I listen to their needs.
They know that if they're disrespectful, they lose all sorts of privileges.
And they know that it ain't a lot of fun when they've made me mad.
But they also know that my class is about a lot more
than y=mx + b.
Did they get to open all 8 of our windows and stick their hands and heads outside for a few minutes to experience the hail?
Absolutely.
And when a few screamed at the thunder which followed the hail, around 2:30pm, I reminded them that thunder was a lot cooler if you could actually hear it and challenged them to work silently until the next crack of thunder so that they could get the full experience.
Did they get to open all 8 of our windows and stick their hands and heads outside for a few minutes to experience the hail?
Absolutely.
And when a few screamed at the thunder which followed the hail, around 2:30pm, I reminded them that thunder was a lot cooler if you could actually hear it and challenged them to work silently until the next crack of thunder so that they could get the full experience.
They did. Until the skies grumbled again, and they couldn't contain their wonder.
After school, teachers were grumbling about how chaotic their classrooms became when the hail broke out. I just smiled.
After school, teachers were grumbling about how chaotic their classrooms became when the hail broke out. I just smiled.
5 comments:
that's fabulous!
i was sitting in the car waiting to pick my kids up when one of the hail storms started.
i heard the bell. i waited a little bit longer hoping it would die down a bit and then i saw the door to the school burst open and all the little kids come running out into the hail storm, running and dancing and screaming and laughing!
i watched for a while, and eventually ran into it looking for my crazy soaking kids.
so hot.
What a great image! I swear, good teachers are just the best, and you sound like one of the best of the best. And those sound like some good kids.
extreme weather is meant to be experienced when it happens
unless you can go on vacation to hawaii instead
makes me feel bad for these poor California kids. Where I grew up, we could count on atleast a weeks worth of snow days, but what kind of fun weather related skool skipping experiences do they have here? Nothin.
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