Happy Thanksgiving!

I write this knowing that Thanksgiving Day has come and gone for many of you. Alas, I had to work on the real Thanksgiving - a first for me but it wasn't all that bad (stressful, but nice). My school in 'Muchty has been so welcoming that when my headteacher, Jane, asked if I'd do something with my class to teach the rest of the school about Thanksgiving, how could I refuse? Not sure my class could survive an actual play without bloodshed, I decided we were going to create a Thanksgiving tablou (for lack of a better word). Basically, the kids would be "still lifes" in scenes from the Thanksgiving story while narrators told the audience what was going on. Just to clarify...never have I taught drama or art prior to this year. So with only about 3 and a half weeks to throw this together I was not sure I could really pull this off.

My kids and I read books about Thanksgiving (brought over by my sister Jen when she visited a few weeks ago - a blog yet to come) and watched some nice cartoons via United Streaming to give them a background on the holiday. From that point, I tried to let them run the show as much as possible - literally. Each student presented a storyboard of what they remember being the most important events in the story and I chose the 7 scenes that popped up on the most of their lists. They were then split into groups that had to design the backdrop for each scene, arrange where any people would be standing in their scene, and provide me with a list of needed props/costumes (along with a breakdown of what we needed to make vs. what they could bring in from home). And it worked. The excitement and ownership my kids felt during the few weeks before our presentation (not "pageant" as the Mueller family has been calling it) was fantastic. Every time they saw "Thanksgiving Project" on our daily schedule, that's all they wanted to do the rest of the day.

The major hiccup in the operation was the flu. Not swine flu, but just your run of the mill flu. This past week, we were doing our run through practices in the hall with 7 kids out of 23 gone on Tuesday and then 8 out on Wednesday. Who knew who was going to show up on Thursday? Our dress rehearsals were noisy and disorganized. With seven scenes and 5 backdrops, there were a lot of props and people constantly colliding "backstage" (we wheeled in 4 portable bulletin boards to work behind). The school's new sound system wasn't working so you couldn't hear the narrators. Props were going missing or were destroyed. Kids were fighting with the spears we created for the Native Americans. With the entire school AND parents showing up for our tablou on Thursday, there was no way to back out discretely so I just held my breath that it wouldn't be THAT bad.

And we did it! The kids were GREAT! The mike and sound system were finally up and running. The kids mastered who was in charge of taking down/putting up backdrops, who needed to be on what side of the "stage" at what time, where all the props would be stored on each side of the stage, etc. They got a great round of applause and people kept coming up to us all day telling us what a great job they did. Maybe that was because they were just being nice but I don't think so. My favorite memory of the real dress rehearsal was sitting next one of my students, Sean, who turned to me after we had run through most of the show and said very frankly,"I think what we've done looks good. The transitions are running smoothly and the narrators are nice and clear. I think if we can just get the noise level backstage down for those last two scenes we'll be ready." This kid just turned 9 (today, actually). I loved it!

I brought my camera in to video tape the whole event for you but forgot all about it once we started our performance. Sorry! As proud I am of my kids, I am hoping our 15 minutes in the spotlight (it was a 15 minute performance!) was it for the year. It was exhausting. It did make me realize how much I miss having a classroom where you have flexibility within your own schedule. I think there are very few elementary schools left in our area at home where it would be okay to drop other subjects to focus on something like a presentation like this. I also have the entire month of December ahead of me where I am supposed to be making cards, calendars, and other crafts with my kids. We will be going to a Christmas pantomime (Pinocchio), having a Christmas nativity, and party after school. Are we doing too much holiday stuff here? Do we not do enough at home? I don't know but I do know there is a HUGE difference so far in how my two schools approach the holiday season. I'm torn because I know I am now behind academically and will be cramming a bit before the Christmas break but I wouldn't have traded this experience with my kids for anything (and it was quite interdisciplinary - history, drama, art, teamwork, etc.). Food for thought...

And speaking of food...I am currently enjoying the fragrant smell of candied sweet potatoes in Andrea and Brian's apartment in London. Today is my Thanksgiving! I did celebrate at school - with the presentation, a Thanksgiving lunch with the whole school, and 4 pumpkin pies I made (thanks to Jen and Libby) for my students and staff - but today is the day where I am surrounding myself with good friends (Janet and Allen are due around 3) and good food. So while you are all busy shopping and getting Christmas trees, I'll be enjoying turkey, pies, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. So Happy Thanksgiving one and all!