The Day the Principal Turned 9 Years Old!

It was a dark and stormy Tuesday Morning... No, seriously, it was. The morning I planned to become a 4th grader for the day, the wild Texas weather decided to rear its ugly head. Around 7:45 AM, as we were welcoming students into the school, the entire campus had to take shelter for bad weather.  Luckily the severe weather passed quickly and my plan to become a student for the day was set into motion. I imagined it would be like the plot line for 17 Again, only I would be nine again! I planned to spend the day as a 4^th grade student on our campus. I would go to lunch, rotation, PE, walk in line and do all the work the students did. I felt like I should know what it is like to be a student on my campus and I couldn't think of a better professional development than putting myself in their shoes. So, for the day I was nine. I hoped I could handle the new math!  

When I walked into Mrs.LeJeune's fourth grade classroom, I was immediately welcomed with excitement and slight confusion as to what I was doing there. The students were in the middle of a mini-lesson over revising and writing "Ba-Da-Bing" complex sentences. Mrs. Lejeune introduced me as a new student to the class and established that my name for the day was going to be Missy Griffith ( I had to have a new name, no respectable nine year old goes by Mrs.Griffith.) After the lesson, we quickly transitioned into a writing activity to revise a paper that the class had previously written. And what do you know, I didn't fully listen to the directions and I did the assignment wrong. I realized this as students started sharing their work and it wasn't what I had completed! I quickly tried to correct my work before I was found out. Next, we moved to our reading lesson. I made my way to a comfy spot on the carpet and listened intently as the teacher read Liar and Spy to the class. The students were hanging on her every word. I remembered how much teachers reading aloud to me inspired my love for books. After a few more activities, one creating videos and Google Slide presentations over the Alamo, it was time to get ready to head to the next classroom for Math. 
During the transition between classes I knew I was fitting in to my role because I had several students asking me to sit with them at lunch and inviting me to play knock-out at recess. It seemed as though they forgot that I was really thirty-four disguised as a nine year-old. 
In math, while working on our warm up, I missed the first problem right off the bat. Lucky for me another student asked for clarification which got me back on track. After a short lesson on perimeter (where I learned that perimeter has the word rim in it) it was 11:30, which meant it was time for lunch. I won't lie, I was starving! We quickly lined up and headed to the cafeteria.
I found a spot at our assigned table and broke out my sandwich. I was excited to visit with my new friends and find out about the things they were into. The students were  intrigued by my journal that I was keeping to keep a reflection of my day. We quickly found ourselves coming up with funny lines that I should add to it (hence the first line in this blog.) We laughed and enjoyed our time time to relax and cut up. When it was time to pack up, I reached under the table to pick up some trash off the floor, only to find myself with the slimiest piece of unidentified food in my hand. I quickly took it to the trash can and found something to wipe my hands off with. As any nine year old would do, I laughed about it.  

After lunch, we headed back to Mrs. McClintock's to finish our math lesson and then moved on to the computer lab for IStation and another class project. Mrs. Jerrett in the lab created me an account so I  could participate with the class. Before I knew it, it was 1:45 and time to head to PE. 

When we walked into the doors of the gym, I felt my pulse race with excitement and a little bit of fear that I may not hold up like the nine year old I was trying to be. I sat down in the bleachers with the rest of the girls in fourth grade and waited for Coach Guyon to tell us what we were doing for the day. Yoshi Ball was the game and I quickly realized I was going to be the target! We played five intense rounds, where I must say, I had some pretty sweet moves (read that with a sarcastic tone.) Before I knew it, PE was over... Just kidding, I was about to pass out from all the running.

We lined up and headed to Music. There we learned about the Classical Period and the patterns in the music. I enjoyed it and learned a lot. After that, it was time to pack up to go home and get ready for recess. Due to the crazy weather we had recess in the gym. I never got a chance to play knock-out but I did shoot around with the kids and felt like part of the group. 

Looking back on the day, I am so happy I made it a priority to be nine for a day. I really feel like I have a better understanding of several things I wouldn't have before. Including, how much our teachers love and inspire our kids to love learning, how ready for lunch and conversation I was by 11:30, how Ms.Luann (our lunch lady) cares if the kids enjoy what her team has prepared for them, or the simplest of things, like what it is like to be nine again. I hope that in the near future I can find the time to do it again and put myself back in the shoes of those that I am here to serve, our kids.