What Great Aggression Therapy We Had Today

Today has been very chaotic. Being the last day before Thanksgiving break, I cannot tell you how crazy the kids were today. We had to keep them as busy as we possibly could just to keep the kids in trouble. I never really knew the true meaning of the saying "Idle hands are the devils workshop."

For the last two hours of the day, our students took part of the school-wide reward party. They are rewarded for the selling that took place duing fundraiser earlier in the school year. Teachers are sent to supervise the event. The students are playing around on these inflatable slides, bungee racing, obstacle courses, etc. There is also a DJ and some dancing going on too. Fortunately, I did not have time to go dance and show up the kids.

The majority of my time was spent in the boxing and jousting rings! Below are examples of what we did.

I started off in the boxing ring. We went bouncing around the ring throwing "punches." To be totally honest, sometimes the gloves were as big as the student. It was hilarious. I had a blast. The first student I "sparred" with was one of my know-it-all students. He is a fun kid, but sometimes has that I know everything attitude. I knocked him over (or when he fell from losing balance) I pinned him to the floor with the gloves and kept "punching" him. So, it wasn't real boxing, but it was a good time.

The rest of my time was spent in the jousting ring with those blasted pugil sticks. It has been my favorite event during the annual party. There is always a student who wants to challenge me to the joust. Why would I deny my student the chance to hit their teacher? *inset evil laugh and grin here*

What my students don't know is that I have been challenged by about 100 students over the past 6 years, and I have never been defeated...not even against the principal. I get up on the platform, and a crowd begins to gather to see someone take down the teacher. I quickly take out my student, then another enters the ring to be defeated, then another, and another, etc.

What I love most about this day is that it is the one day each year I can hit my student and not get arrested or fired! (kidding) In seriousness, I am not abusive to my kids. They are the ones who choose to be ridiculed! I love my students, and this is a way to work off that aggression. It was awesome.

I am proud to tell you that I was challenged by 15 - 20 kids today and I never lost! What can I say...I am the king of the joust!

When the day and party was over, I realized just how much I was worked up. I was told that my face was as pink as the shirt I was wearing. I was sweating like a pig. Then I realized my back was soaked with sweat. When I leaned against a wall for a second, I got the instant sensation of cold and wetness down my back. YUCK! Today was an awesome cardio workout. My heart was pounding for about 90 minutes. Yes, I was challenged that long! There were actually students still in line to challenge the teacher.

Now, I am officially on Thanksgiving break until next Monday.

I have already begun my holiday shopping online. I spent over $100 on books from Wal-Mart (.com) today because their books were 50 - 70% off. I spent another $200 on DVDs from Amazon.com. They were having a huge Black Friday Now sell. Ended up with the entire seasons of Supernatural, Boston Legal, and Reba, plus a number of other movies I loved. Okay, so the shopping was mainly for me, but it was too good of a deal to pass up.

Hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving holiday. Get plenty of rest, eat wonderful amounts of Thanksgiving dinner, and enjoy the time with your families. (I know MNJ is having an especially awesome time with the mother-in-law! Sorry, MH, I couldn't resist the reference.)

Take care!

- JC

One final thought...I found this song from Johnny Cash. It is a song of Thanksgiving, and I can't help but feel the pure love between Johnny and June Carter Cash. I got the chance to meet them several years ago, and they are two of the kindest and down-to-Earth people you could ever meet.