Mr. Teacher

Two Weeks Off??

by John Pearson

Teachers and students across the nation returned to class earlier this week, and most, if not all, of them had something in common – tiredhead. This was of course to be expected, though, since most of us played Twister with our sleep schedule, staying up past midnight and sleeping past noon for most of the holiday break.

No? That was just me? Well, then, I stand corrected. (But I doubt it.)

At any rate, when my students returned to class, I grilled them on what they had done to occupy themselves during the two week lay over. Here are a few observations about what they wrote.

Several of them didn’t catch me use the phrase “Quick Write,” so instead of writing down the major events of the vacation, they chose to give a minute-by-minute account. “First, I left the school and got onto the bus. Then I went to my apartment and had a snack…” For these kids, I never got any details past about 7 o’clock on the Friday that school let out.

For others, they gave more of a report on the whole time period, but there were a few kids who made sure to begin their journal entry with, “First, I did my homework for Ms. R,” or “The whole time, I practiced my math facts and science words.” Do Christmas treats include Brownie Points?

Even though this was an account of their Winter Break and not their Summer Break, some kids still said that they went to Six Flags and ate pizza! I can only assume they meant pizza from CiCi’s. If you’re wondering why I find that amusing, be sure to check my column about Summer Vacations.