Bumper Cars

Today was one of those days at school where no one wanted to pay attention.  It was the first day back from Spring break and to make matters worse the sun was shining and the weather was just right; not too warm and not cold at all.

Every period I had with my 4th graders they kept insisting we finish our lesson quickly and have free time to play.  Unfortunately for them the opportunity didn’t present itself until the end of the day during Science.  We finished early and I told them it was okay to go outside and enjoy the weather.

It is so much fun to watch them all playing together on the playground.  My three boys always go on the swings and compete to see who can jump off the furthest.   And all five girls manage to fit themselves on one tire swing and scream at the top of their lungs.

After their standard routine, one of my favorites from the class, we’ll call him Khuwaylid, got an idea to play “bumper cars” with everyone.  They got so excited and ran towards the slide.  You may be thinking, bumper cars on the playground with a slide?  What in the world.

They all stood at the top landing attached to the jungle gym and took turns sliding down with their legs over the edges.  When the first one reached the bottom he anchored himself on the edge and let the rest pile up behind him.

They were screaming with laughter as one by one their classmates came down and smushed them into one giant bumper car pile up.  It was hilarious to watch–especially when some of my “bigger” students came down the slide.  They asked me to join them, but I insisted I didn’t want to hurt anyone and sat it out on the bench and watched happily.

I really didn’t want to call them in to go to Arabic, but class was over.  They all ran in, out of breath, cheeks flush, and smiling.

I like teaching, especially for the moments I spend outside of the classroom with my students.