Do You Know What Day It Is?

Birthdays--a great reason to celebrate. At school it means some sort of yummy treat, singing "Happy Birthday" including "How old are you?", and a gift. We just celebrated a 12th yesterday, and the cookies were delicious! If I really put my mind to it, I could probably name the birthday of almost any student I have ever taught--yeah, I'm just weird like that. So today, I say happy birthday to Cassie. Several years ago (probably more than either of us care to count), I was her second grade teacher. On the morning of April 15, all of my kindergarten through second graders were gathered around the calendar to do our morning activities. I drew attention to the date and said that it was a special day and asked, "Does anyone know why?" Promptly, one of my first graders--the birthday girl's cousin--got excited and raised his hand. Imagine my surprise when I called on him and heard him say, "It's Tax Day!"

April Fool's!

Ahh, April Fool’s Day. So many memories come flooding back. A funny (and embarrassing) one for me was in 1987. I was in the middle of student teaching and had the opportunity to substitute in a different classroom on the morning of April 1^st. When I returned to my regular classroom after lunch and found them only beginning the morning classes, I was shocked.  The first thought running through my mind was how dependent on me Mrs. F. must have become. NOT! She was in the middle of a great April Fool’s joke for our students—a day of mixed-up subjects that kept them guessing what would be next. I went on to copy this one in my own classroom as well as add a few of my own.  (C.F., if you read this, I hope you can forgive me for being young and full of myself!)

It has been a few years since we have had the “pleasure” of being in school on April 1^st. Weekends and holidays have spoiled our fun so I was a little out of practice. It took me awhile, but I didn’t let the day get away from me. For the past week we have been completing our first year of online state tests called Smarter Balanced Assessment. We have talked and worried all year about whether everything  with the technology would work. So yesterday, Mrs. H. and I could not resist the urge to fool our students. While they were at music, we devised our devious plan. When the students returned, a phone call came from our district testing coordinator (actually, my cell phone!) that told me all the testing we did last week would need to be redone. Yes, it got them—I could tell by the groans and sighs. I only wish I could have carried it a little longer before my smile told them it was all an April Fool’s joke!