Wild Turkey

First full week of school is over now. I'm so relieved to be moving into Shabbat now. This week I felt like I was made up of schedules and papers and procedures and clocks moving by too fast. I kept sort of wondering where I, personally, had gone. Wondered if there was anything left of just ME.

There was a wild turkey at school out on the lawn we use as a playground. The children went berserk trying to run over towards it. I did my best to huddle them together and explain that in nature, the best way you can see an animal is to be quiet and respectful. If you run towards an animal, waving your arms and screaming, it will just get scared and run away.

I like my way of dealing with that. It was interesting (and annoying) to see how other teachers dealt with it.

One simply said she was a little worried about it for the kids' safety. I've got no problem with her worrying that although I was quite happy to see them watching wildlife.

What annoyeed me was the teacher who responded to the children's cries of "There's a wild turkey," with the words, "Oh good. I'm hungry." I felt that was disrespectful. I guess it was supposed to be funny. Am I being sensitive? Perhaps. And if so, I'm proud of it.