1. Mrs. Combs overdid her coffee intake today.
2. Mrs. Combs lied to her students today.
3. Mrs. Combs showed up early to work today.
So which one is the lie?
None of them. Gotcha! I was definitely early to work, definitely had too much caffeine, and most definitely lied to my kids. FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES! ;)
Guess I should explain. Today my traditional class started the book "Among the Hidden." It is a dystopian novel that centers around the idea that laws are in place preventing a 3rd or 4th child in a family. Two is the limit. Our main character, Luke, is a 3rd child who is forced into hiding.
In order to help them understand what that might feel like, I substituted my normal handshake for a sticker when they entered the room. They either recieved yellow, green, or blue stickers. I waited until after our library trip to explain why they had them. I told the kids (very sternly, I might add) that in order to create a better classroom environment, we were trying something new. I told the yellow and green stickers to sit at the front of the room and told blue stickers that they were not allowed to participate. They were to go to the back of the room and be quiet. No moving or talking allowed. While the blues dutifully hid in the back, the rest of us played words games on the board and even tossed the ball outside! (As an end of the hall room, I can monitor both. No worries.) It was crazy to see how quiet the blues were. They didn't argue at all! Throughout the short experiment, if a blue moved or raised their hand, I slapped 'em with a sticky note. They were definitely freaked out. Because, you know, sticky notes are terrifying!
Finally, I told them to return to their seats and write down what they thought about the new classroom structure. I said that (cough.lie.cough) "Mr. Eidson wants some honest feedback about whether this is a good system or not. "
The answers I got were very interesting. Some almost made me cry! Here is a sample:
*It really sucked and it felt like it was not fair and we felt left out. (Goal accomplished!)
*I liked it. I would like to try the blue stickers. (Haha..got us a lazy one!)
*I felt bored and left out. And like no one like me. (Tear!)
*It felt good and bad. I felt good because I just got to hang out and relax. I didn't like it because I didn't get to participate. (Nailed it.)
Of course the rest of my kids are all regular middle school souls who quite enjoyed knowing that THEY were the chosen ones. They are all for kicking the blues out forever. When I finally disclosed the real meaning of the activity, the blues were relieved and the others looked disappointed!
Needless to say, this book has already sparked some deep discussions. Hopefully they aren't too emotionally scared! Sorry, parents. Gotta be emotionally tough to make it through my class!
-Mrs. Combs
(I definitely can't take all the credit for this! My cohort and many teacher blogs gave me the general idea.)
