Wednesday, November 4, 2009

staff vs. cross country: revisit

Those of you who have been with me since the livejournal days (oh, that carefree, bygone era. heh), might remember last year's staff vs. cross country race.

Here's how it goes: my school's cross country team has been racing their little hearts out since the beginning of the school year. Generally, of course, they'd compete against people their own age--but today, to cap off their rather short season, they get to challenge the people they otherwise butt heads with every day. Yep, that's right. Their teachers.

Coming from a rather successful race last year, I upped my shit-talking factor this year. Everyone in my LA classes heard about how I was going to kick their butts--though honestly, I think I had more dealt to me than I dealt out. Even some of the 8th graders, kiddos I don't have in my classes anymore, would walk by my classroom door during passing period, yell out "you're going down, Ms Honnold!" (or some variation thereof) and run away. heh. It was awesome.

Needless to say, I totally kicked ass. (It would have been an embarrassment not to, at this point;) Actually, teachers in general kicked ass this year. We let a super speedy 8th grader by into 1st place, but our stalwart teacher team swept 2nd, 3rd, and 4th--not too bad for a bunch of old farts. I don't know how fast I actually ran; I hope it was a respectable time, though, so I can feel good about myself for real reasons, not just because I ran faster than a bunch of 13 year olds;)

Just like last year, though, I left school today with a giant grin on my face. Even though these kiddos often frustrate, annoy, and otherwise try my patience in class, they really are, fundamentally, pretty good folk. I wish there were more opportunity for class to be like this. Not a cross-country race necessarily, I mean, but outside of a standard classroom, doing something where we can all be more equal, working toward a common goal. I love kids.

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