Lunch Time Views
Lunch Time Views
Since Mother Nature has provided another unseasonably warm autumn, we removed the option for students to stay inside in the hallways on days when the weather was warm and sunny. This is a change from past practice for the last number of years. Initially, a few students were reluctant for the first couple of weeks, and many of the students didn’t really know what to do with themselves during their break time so they reverted back to the contemporary default of aimlessly scrolling through their cell phones or awkwardly lingering around a quiet yet lonely corner of the school yard.
However, after a couple of weeks I noticed a shift start to emerge in what I was witnessing at lunch right outside my window. Students began to engage with one another as students were bringing their own basketballs and footballs from home so they didn’t have to waste break time tracking down uninflated school balls that stole valuable break time from their next game, students were fine-tuning the latest Tik Tok dance craze, sprinting to secure the preferred swing set, and kids were practicing the newest skill set they learned from the school soccer or volleyball team with other peers they would normally never even talk too. Aimless scrolling on a Smartphone and awkward loneliness on the lunch playground was being overwhelmed by meaningful interaction with other peers. This whole process has been awesome to witness happen right in front of my classroom window everyday at lunch time.Kids have been able to escape some of the challenges that accompany being a teen along with the added pressures that being a teen in 2024 has to contend with. Kids were able to be kids again; a wonderful sight to witness.
