"Heather, you're just not cool." - Cameron, age 8.
Every now and then, I have one of those days that reminds me why I've been teaching temple school for nine years.
Lately, I've been burned out on teaching temple school. I know myself well enough to know that I shouldn't do this again next year. I'm ready to have my Saturday nights and Sunday mornings back. But today was really fun, and I'm glad for that. I needed it.
You see, my second session is almost All Boys. Eight-year-old boys. Eight-year-old boys who have known each other since they were three or four years old, when they attended Simcha Pre-School at Temple Beth El together. They have a lot of energy, and they're best friends. I love the way they're not ashamed to be affectionate with each other. I love it when they laugh and joke and share secrets, especially when they're talking and I step up behind them because they shouldn't be...they look at each other, look at me, and get silent real quick. They're wildly entertaining, and they have a good time. However, they're also wildly disruptive. They can't sit still, and even though we try to practice Safe Seating Arrangements, since they've all known each other so long, they're always chatting. On the days when we can harness their energy, and their friendships, we succeed. On the days when we can't use their energy for the better, well...let's just say it's more challenging.
I have an ongoing joke with the ringleader. His name is Cameron, and he is, above all, a smart-ass. He's brilliant, noisy, a little full of himself, and he thrives on competition. He's a lot of fun.
Last week, they were making family trees to learn the Hebrew words for family members. I showed them how to make "trees" by tracing their hands and arms on brown construction paper, cutting them out, and gluing them onto another piece of paper for branches. This meant I could make TREE puns ("Hey, look, you're branching out!") and HAND puns ("Let me give you a hand! Oh, you can handle it!"). Last year, these kids LOVED my puns because they were first graders, just discovering language. This year, um, not so much. So, I walked around making these horrible jokes, and suddenly, Cameron looks up at me.
Cameron: Heather, I have to tell you something.
Me: Anything!
Cameron: I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I think you should know
Me: Ok...
Cameron: Heather, you're just not cool.
Me (trying very hard not to crack up): Cameron, I have NEVER been cool! And I am SO cool with that! Here, let me give you a HAND.
Everyone laughed.
Cameron: Really? You don't care if you're cool?
Me: I'm cool enough for me, and that's all that matters, right?
Cameron: Yeah, I guess...But you're still not cool.
Everyone went back to work.
Today, there were more opportunities to make bad jokes, as always. They had to go on a hametz hunt (For Passover, when Jews eat Matzo instead of bread products for a whole week, some people remove all the bread products from their house to be kosher for the holiday). When Cameron and his entourage filled a huge bag with bread that the sixth graders had hidden around the synagogue, I said, "Hey Cameron! You're BREADER than ever!" Cameron started laughing really hard. He repeated this phrase OVER and OVER again.
I came up behind him.
Me: Cameron, you like my bad joke!
Cameron: Well, that one was funny.
Me: Who's "NOT COOL" now? Haha!
Cameron: Ok, I changed my mind. Heather, you're really cool!
Other boys: Yeah! Heather's cool! Yeah!
I didn't have to shut them up once for the rest of the day. Every time one of them would start acting up, all I had to do was give them a knowing look, as if they were in on some secret. It worked.
I'm glad I had fun with them today. I needed to remember why I started this in the first place.
Lately, I've been burned out on teaching temple school. I know myself well enough to know that I shouldn't do this again next year. I'm ready to have my Saturday nights and Sunday mornings back. But today was really fun, and I'm glad for that. I needed it.
You see, my second session is almost All Boys. Eight-year-old boys. Eight-year-old boys who have known each other since they were three or four years old, when they attended Simcha Pre-School at Temple Beth El together. They have a lot of energy, and they're best friends. I love the way they're not ashamed to be affectionate with each other. I love it when they laugh and joke and share secrets, especially when they're talking and I step up behind them because they shouldn't be...they look at each other, look at me, and get silent real quick. They're wildly entertaining, and they have a good time. However, they're also wildly disruptive. They can't sit still, and even though we try to practice Safe Seating Arrangements, since they've all known each other so long, they're always chatting. On the days when we can harness their energy, and their friendships, we succeed. On the days when we can't use their energy for the better, well...let's just say it's more challenging.
I have an ongoing joke with the ringleader. His name is Cameron, and he is, above all, a smart-ass. He's brilliant, noisy, a little full of himself, and he thrives on competition. He's a lot of fun.
Last week, they were making family trees to learn the Hebrew words for family members. I showed them how to make "trees" by tracing their hands and arms on brown construction paper, cutting them out, and gluing them onto another piece of paper for branches. This meant I could make TREE puns ("Hey, look, you're branching out!") and HAND puns ("Let me give you a hand! Oh, you can handle it!"). Last year, these kids LOVED my puns because they were first graders, just discovering language. This year, um, not so much. So, I walked around making these horrible jokes, and suddenly, Cameron looks up at me.
Cameron: Heather, I have to tell you something.
Me: Anything!
Cameron: I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I think you should know
Me: Ok...
Cameron: Heather, you're just not cool.
Me (trying very hard not to crack up): Cameron, I have NEVER been cool! And I am SO cool with that! Here, let me give you a HAND.
Everyone laughed.
Cameron: Really? You don't care if you're cool?
Me: I'm cool enough for me, and that's all that matters, right?
Cameron: Yeah, I guess...But you're still not cool.
Everyone went back to work.
Today, there were more opportunities to make bad jokes, as always. They had to go on a hametz hunt (For Passover, when Jews eat Matzo instead of bread products for a whole week, some people remove all the bread products from their house to be kosher for the holiday). When Cameron and his entourage filled a huge bag with bread that the sixth graders had hidden around the synagogue, I said, "Hey Cameron! You're BREADER than ever!" Cameron started laughing really hard. He repeated this phrase OVER and OVER again.
I came up behind him.
Me: Cameron, you like my bad joke!
Cameron: Well, that one was funny.
Me: Who's "NOT COOL" now? Haha!
Cameron: Ok, I changed my mind. Heather, you're really cool!
Other boys: Yeah! Heather's cool! Yeah!
I didn't have to shut them up once for the rest of the day. Every time one of them would start acting up, all I had to do was give them a knowing look, as if they were in on some secret. It worked.
I'm glad I had fun with them today. I needed to remember why I started this in the first place.