Secondary Smorgasbord: How to Survive Halloween Excitement in the Classroom and Still Get Stuff Done
"Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Shakespeare's MacBeth Yep, that pretty well sums up my classroom right before a class party. Let's face it- classroom parties are exhausting, even with parents helping. Halloween is probably the most exhausting of them all, given the need to make party arrangements, orchestrate changing into costumes, and figure out how to capture their attention, before the last hour's festivities begin. I wish I could bottle their anticipation energy and dole it out as needed throughout the year! I'm not sure how 6th grade classes in middle school celebrate Halloween, but our 6th grade is in elementary and Halloween is a big deal, including a parade of all the classes! The little guys are so cute! Anyway, by 6th grade, as parent participation dwindles, I was still usually able to muster a couple stalwart parents or grandparents to help set up the party. Sometimes, I even had parents who would ...