"I Love Your Santa Balls"

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Bringing mischief and magic is a top objective in my teaching style.

The mischief that I brought this past Friday was to celebrate our last day of school before the long awaited Christmas break. Here is a breakdown:
 
1. Dressing Up as Mrs. Claus: I've had my red wrap dress for several years now, it was one of three dollar thrift-store scores. The fabric is soft and it's the perfect Christmas red. I jazzed up the outfit by beheading two Santa hats and using the voluptuous white puffs as accents on the tails of my wrap ties. This safety pinned addition earned my the innocently proclaimed compliment, "I love your Santa Balls"!

2. Trap Christmas Music: I played a trap version of the classic "Here Comes Santa Clause". Click here to experience the magic. I played it as I pushed my "sleigh" (my rolling teacher cart) into the classroom. As I entered the room, I began to dance and the kids instinctively knew to join in (dancing is a common occurrence during my teaching period). 

3. Sugar Buffet: I am an advocate of a healthy diet on a regular day; however, it's Christmas, it's the last day of the first semester, and we're in a freaking pandemic. Eat that cupcake. 

4. Mario Kart Tournament: Two of my students brought in their Nintendo Switches so that we could indulge in some friendly competition. We hooked up the game systems to the projectors that usually display lecture notes and set up the bracket. I didn't make it very deep into the competition, but I am proud to say that Ms. Montoya can still hold her own on a game system (thank you, to my inner-gamer).

For the entire day, the joy was palpable. Everyone was excited to head into Christmas break, but I think that the real reason the day was so magical was because the kids were given an opportunity to celebrate. Covid has brought anxiety, isolation, and changes. And, I have seen the effect it has had on my middle schoolers. They have been "heavier"; therefore, it was so good to be silly with them and to bring some joy during this Christmas season. 

It was so fun to bring some magic and mischief to my kids. I hope you can do the same during your own Christmas, which is bound to be different this time around. But hey, different is good...it pushes us into the new and encourages some creativity...all you need is some "Santa Balls".