Night School--Part 2
The students came up with novel activities during recess (aka "Break"). At the first break, it was still daylight, and I spied a group of girls on the concrete slab in front of the shop. They were giving and taking rides in the wheeled trash carts. Only the riders' heads were visible, except when the carts dumped over.
At the next break, the girls prevailed on me to help them play "Ghosts in the Graveyard." I allowed myself to be swept along in the euphoria of the moment and played my very first game ever of "Ghosts in the Graveyard." Frieda dramatically told us the sad and scary "Here lies. . . " stories as we threaded our way around the storage buildings next to the shop. The two Sheilas (I think) were "it" and lurked in the dark to scare us. Behind the barns, after the scare that signaled pell mell escape maneuvers, I found myself picking my way awkwardly through branches on the ground. Oh yeah. Here's where we piled the branches when we created our "armed intruder" escape tunnel through the evergreens last fall.
Darkness presented some novel break time options.
"Peek-Around-the-Corner" was the game of choice for some of the students during the third break. (This, in spite of Ryan's dismissive pronouncement: "I so want to play Peek-Around-the-Corner.) When I stepped outside for fresh air, Matthew (tall senior) and David (big and tall sophomore) were on the sidewalk west of the building. David was standing stock still and Matthew was moving cautiously away from him, looking backward at David as he did so.
Circling the building three times without the "it" person seeing you move was the object of the game, as I understood it. Of course, while Matthew was keeping an eagle eye on David, others were no doubt busily making progress on their trips around the building. The necessity of peeking around the corner to ascertain the position of the "it" person is where the name of the game originates. This childhood game was fun again for everyone playing. I'm sorry I didn't learn to play this when I was young. I guess I had too many well-supervised recesses focused on competitive sports in public grade school.
The third break was as busy as the first. Maybe the two pots of coffee consumed, the espresso machine someone brought from home, and the 2-liter Mountain Dew I spied had something to do with it.
At the next break, the girls prevailed on me to help them play "Ghosts in the Graveyard." I allowed myself to be swept along in the euphoria of the moment and played my very first game ever of "Ghosts in the Graveyard." Frieda dramatically told us the sad and scary "Here lies. . . " stories as we threaded our way around the storage buildings next to the shop. The two Sheilas (I think) were "it" and lurked in the dark to scare us. Behind the barns, after the scare that signaled pell mell escape maneuvers, I found myself picking my way awkwardly through branches on the ground. Oh yeah. Here's where we piled the branches when we created our "armed intruder" escape tunnel through the evergreens last fall.
Darkness presented some novel break time options.
"Peek-Around-the-Corner" was the game of choice for some of the students during the third break. (This, in spite of Ryan's dismissive pronouncement: "I so want to play Peek-Around-the-Corner.) When I stepped outside for fresh air, Matthew (tall senior) and David (big and tall sophomore) were on the sidewalk west of the building. David was standing stock still and Matthew was moving cautiously away from him, looking backward at David as he did so.
Circling the building three times without the "it" person seeing you move was the object of the game, as I understood it. Of course, while Matthew was keeping an eagle eye on David, others were no doubt busily making progress on their trips around the building. The necessity of peeking around the corner to ascertain the position of the "it" person is where the name of the game originates. This childhood game was fun again for everyone playing. I'm sorry I didn't learn to play this when I was young. I guess I had too many well-supervised recesses focused on competitive sports in public grade school.
The third break was as busy as the first. Maybe the two pots of coffee consumed, the espresso machine someone brought from home, and the 2-liter Mountain Dew I spied had something to do with it.
posted by Mrs. I at
5:52 AM
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