Thread: Turnabout is fair play

Today was a district in-service day. I had to go to district workshops. The kids got a day off. They were higher than kites yesterday afternoon. After taking them down the hallway for a "restroom/water" break, we returned to class for the last period of the day.

The line leader walked very quickly and before I knew what was happening, the entire line had scampered down the hall. A few mischevious individuals stood in the doorway of my classroom and grinned at me. They waved bye bye and hurriedly shut the door on me.

I suppose turn about is fair play.

In the past, I have sometimes left students behind after taking the class to the restrooms. Some students have dilly-dallied washing their hands. Other students have spent time (probably) chatting in the restrooms. After waiting for the students to rejoin the class, I have taken the rest of the students back to the room - where the students in line were "rewarded" with ink stamps for good line behavior. (In my class the students have stamp books and they get ink stamps for various behaviors. The stamps are redeemable for grab jar treats on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Five stamps may be crossed out in exchange for one treat).

While the "class stamper" (for the day) has passed out stamps, I have stood in the doorway, waving at the late coming students. I have also shut the door on them as they frantically hurried down the hall.

I once leaned against the door and pretended to be surprised when they tried to open it.

"Oh, did you want to come in?" I asked. "I didn't know you were there."

"You are a BAD Mr. Chin!!!" scolded Rosemary.

"You're not supposed to lock students out of the room!" insisted Denise.

(sigh)

So the next time this happened, I waved goodbye to the late coming students and shut the door. This time I didn't lean on it.

The door burst open as three giggling students tried to force their way into the room. Since nobody was actually blocking the door, the door flew open and the children fell through the doorway.

"You are a a BAD Mr. Chin!!!" scolded Rosemary.

"You're not supposed to shut the door on people!" insisted Denise.

And so it was on Thursday that I suddenly lost control of my class. They scampered ahead of me, grinned at me like monkeys, waved goodbye, and SHUT the classroom door on me ... their teacher.

I stood on the other side of the doorway and listened to muffled giggling.

I looked at the door and thought for a moment.

Should I try to force the door open? What if I squashed a student in the process?

"I'm getting too old for this," I muttered. The words, "turn about is fair play" echoed in my head. I sighed and put my hand on the door knob.

The door knob turned.

The door opened.

There was more giggling.

I peeked into the classroom to find that every student was seated at his or her desk. Eighteen smiling faces were pointed in my direction.

"You're LATE Mr. Chin!" crowed Rosemary.

"No good line behavior stamp for you!" chuckled Denise.

The entire class roared with laughter.

(sigh)


Logging off from Houston,

David