Theme Class

The Centum School operates on a rotational basis, meaning the teachers rotate classes every 35 minutes, to give each student group the experience of working with multiple teachers each day. This results in uneven schedules, we each teach certain subjects (e.g. math, science, art, etc.) more than others. One of the classes I teach twice each day is Theme.

Every month, Sally selects a new theme for the school. Last month was sports, next month is multiculturalism, and this month is 'autumn'. Theme class is a chance for the teachers to get creative and have fun with class-planning. Providing Sally manages to suppress her inner control freak, Theme Class can be a great time to experiment with the kids, and discover new and innovative ways to create an enjoyable learning environment.

So far this month I've been focusing many lessons on fall traditions, weather, harvest time and Thanksgiving history. With Halloween quickly approaching, I was totally excited to spend the last week and a half of October teaching my kids about one of my favourite holidays, and sharing many of the amazing lessons and crafts that I remember doing as a kid.

Unfortunately, Sally had other plans. Yesterday she called a meeting in the common room to inform the teachers that she took the liberty of uploading a few Theme Class worksheets to the computer. She described the worksheets as simple examples of fall artwork that the kids should write about and describe using their new autumn vocabulary. The general consensus among the teachers was, "Mmm...ok. I'll scrap a lesson plan or two and have the kids complete Sally's dumb worksheet. After all, she is the boss".

I was on board with this line of thinking, until I had a chance to hop on the computer with the intention of printing off the worksheets before theme class that day. Turns out, Sally's 'fall artworks' were not the fun and colourful images I had pictured. Instead, they were various Monet paintings that she had arranged into several 'compare and contrast' charts, with enough writing space to fit a short novel.

Yes, ok. Please let me ask this seven year-old child to compare and contrast various Monet paintings in a language that is not their own.

I promptly booked the Media Room for that afternoon, and took my kids there to talk about ghost stories and watch Youtube clips from Disney's Sleepy Hollow. Monet can wait.