Moments that catch you off-guard
(aka "that wasn't the plan, but ...")
Yesterday's Little Ninjas class (our 5-year-olds) is still on my mind.
At the end of class we sat in a circle and I asked what they thought of the new drill we had just done. I usually say "activity" or "game" but today I said "drill" and that changed the conversation.
Apparently yesterday was a day Hilliard schools practiced drills to hide from active shooters
and they wanted to talk about that drill.
and they wanted to talk about that drill. Some described a fun game they had wanted to win by being the most quiet and still. Some explained the mechanics of how jamming a door worked and who could and couldn't get the door open. And some clearly understood why there was a need for the drill.
As I looked at every single face in that group I realized how much our students are like our family and how I both cared that they had a chance of protecting themselves if needed, and at the same time so sad that they might ever need to.
And I did what we do in those moments ... asked how they felt about it, reassured them, asked if they felt good about having a new skill even if they hopefully never need it, talked about how their teachers made it a fun drill, and then happily ended class with skill tape stripes and high fives.
*still feeling all the feels*
