Band-Aids & Bruises
As with most "first days", today was no different. In order to ensure that all the students understand my expectations, we used an analogy. I opened up our discussion by asking the students what happens when we get a cut on our arm. In addition to adding antibiotic cream and putting ice on the injury, the students mentioned that a bandaid should go on the injury. This was the answer that I was looking for. After briefly talking about this prior to the activity, I discussed the game, bandaid tag, with the students.
::Simply stated, a student is chosen to be the "stinger", buzzing around like a bee in hopes of stinging the other students. The students use their hands as "bandaids" to cover up the sting. What's the catch? The students must keep the bandaid covering the sting until the student has no bandaids left. Once this occurs, students must go to the hospital to get bandaged up. The game continues until only one student and the stinger remain. This student is the stinger for the next round.::
Once we came inside, the students and I discussed a very important topic. Respect. I sprayed air freshener throughout the room. (This helped with my analogy and helped with the smell of sweaty students!) Just like a bee sting or a cut, we cannot undo this action. Once we get stung or once we spray air freshener, the action is already done. Likewise, once we say something, we cannot take the words back. We can put a bandaid on the injury by saying "sorry", or we can wait around and let the effects of harmful words disappear. But, we cannot take back the words all together.
Be kind to others. Encourage others. Respect others.
