Smell like dirt
"In Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
-Margaret Atwood
My students don't get recess. They do a nine hour day in the school building. So I try to take the outside when I can - sensory and vitamin d breaks. I also have them do yoga and other exercises with me. they think I'm crazy, but they always look forward to it (secretly) and participate. I like to think of our daily activity breaks as a part of learning. Right now I am in the midst, with a fellow employee of drafting up an outdoors club. We will talk about health and nutrition and provide the students with activity. We will plant veggies - do yoga outside...the works.
Anyways, today I took them outside for an extended time period. It was soooo fun to see them running around and being creative and active and kids. The children were completely adorable and got soooo dirty. It was funny because at first they were like oh no I have a stain...But then came mischievous smiles and the fun continued. As I told the young ladies, and the neighborhood kids could attest to this, there wasn't a pair of jeans I owned that weren't ripped, stained, and full of the days activities. Mike would say that this is still case, but I've gotten better.
Funny, because I met my parents off of a long flight - they were waiting at the gate. My hair was a mess and I was completely disheveled. My dad says, "that's my girl. Things never change - my baby still comes home a mess." Now, I can't lie - I'd love to come home nice, shiny, and unruffled - I'm sure Mike would love it, too. But it's not me - I get dirty...I run, play in the mud, fall, bump into very visible objects, my hair always finds its way out of the style that I created for it that morning...I'm an active participant in every aspect of life.
As for my students - they are dirty and disheveled and smell a little like the outdoors - but refreshed, refocused and cute as buttons...I wouldn't have it any other way.
-Margaret Atwood
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Anyways, today I took them outside for an extended time period. It was soooo fun to see them running around and being creative and active and kids. The children were completely adorable and got soooo dirty. It was funny because at first they were like oh no I have a stain...But then came mischievous smiles and the fun continued. As I told the young ladies, and the neighborhood kids could attest to this, there wasn't a pair of jeans I owned that weren't ripped, stained, and full of the days activities. Mike would say that this is still case, but I've gotten better.
Funny, because I met my parents off of a long flight - they were waiting at the gate. My hair was a mess and I was completely disheveled. My dad says, "that's my girl. Things never change - my baby still comes home a mess." Now, I can't lie - I'd love to come home nice, shiny, and unruffled - I'm sure Mike would love it, too. But it's not me - I get dirty...I run, play in the mud, fall, bump into very visible objects, my hair always finds its way out of the style that I created for it that morning...I'm an active participant in every aspect of life.
As for my students - they are dirty and disheveled and smell a little like the outdoors - but refreshed, refocused and cute as buttons...I wouldn't have it any other way.
