Today I, along with many of the students, participated in "Mix-it-up Day," a program put on by Teaching Tolerance. To celebrate, we all sat at tables by our birthday month and "mixed it up" by getting to know people we don't normally sit with at lunch. I loved it! Of course, I'm usually found eating lunch with students at least once a week, so I wasn't as far outside of my comfort zone as normal. What was nice for me was getting to know my kids (and other teachers' kids) outside of the classroom environment. The squirmy kid in the back row? The life of the party! The girl who will not talk--still didn't talk--but she laughed at the squirmy kid's jokes. Although I don't think this day is a panacea by any means, it is certainly a beginning. Plus, for those of my kids that feel as if they are not part of the school, it was a no hassle and little pressure time to belong for awhile. And that, in itself, was a very nice thing.
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