Saving lives...one stick figure at a time.

Dismissal at our school is crazy. CRAY-ZEE. There are 900 kids and there are only 2 busses, which means that the majority of the kids have to get home via parent pick up or by walking home. As you can imagine, the tiny parking lot is a complete zoo come about a quarter to 3.

Although the bell doesn't officially ring until 3:05pm, there is a gradual release of kids starting at 2:45pm. Which means my instructional time is over just a bit before that. This means that everyday I am left with a hand full of 5th graders to entertain for about 20 minutes. Naturally, hang man has become a favorite for the kids. Except for the fact that we don't play hang man, we play "rain man".

Let me explain. One of the first days of school, a student in my class mentioned that he doesn't like hang man, because by the end of the game, there is a good chance that the little stick man will perish. So, as a class, we came up with an alternative. Instead of noosing our man, he just suffers through a really bad rain storm. We draw a big cloud, big droplets, a big frowny face, and if we are feeling nice...an umbrella.

This is why I love teaching...the fact that some kids actually cared enough about our little stick figure that they wanted to save his life...although they still enjoy seeing him get a little soggy.

PS- The kids have no idea that this game shares a name with the 1988 Dustin Hoffman classic. I already asked.