Holidays. I enjoy them. A day off. A week off.
Celebrating. Candy. Fireworks. Presents.
Valentine exchange. Egg hunt. Leprechauns.
Mostly however, I like to leave the holidaying for home. We acknowledge them in class, and I'm interested in their origins, but we don't let holidays take over whole months or weeks.
If I get hyped up about holidays - some of which I think are silly in the secular world and some of which are not celebrated by all - then I get my students worked into a lather about holidays. That is to say that the upcoming special day is all they can think about. As a teacher, that's not how I choose to spend my class time - constantly battling against holiday-brains with our real studies. There has to be a better way.
I know that my students know how to celebrate, but once again, I'm not a party planner, and my job is not to host parties and use my allowance for holiday decorations, plates, and napkins. I'm not going to ignore holidays completely, but I will continue to leave most holiday celebrations to the family setting, and I will continue to distract my students with reading, writing, math, and science. I might even throw in some history for good measure.
Celebrating. Candy. Fireworks. Presents.
Valentine exchange. Egg hunt. Leprechauns.
Mostly however, I like to leave the holidaying for home. We acknowledge them in class, and I'm interested in their origins, but we don't let holidays take over whole months or weeks.
If I get hyped up about holidays - some of which I think are silly in the secular world and some of which are not celebrated by all - then I get my students worked into a lather about holidays. That is to say that the upcoming special day is all they can think about. As a teacher, that's not how I choose to spend my class time - constantly battling against holiday-brains with our real studies. There has to be a better way.
I know that my students know how to celebrate, but once again, I'm not a party planner, and my job is not to host parties and use my allowance for holiday decorations, plates, and napkins. I'm not going to ignore holidays completely, but I will continue to leave most holiday celebrations to the family setting, and I will continue to distract my students with reading, writing, math, and science. I might even throw in some history for good measure.
