Each day at 2:10, as I bid farewell to my 6th class of the day, students who are out for recess start knocking on my outside door. The knocks keep coming all the way through recess, and the questions are always the same: “Can we dance today?” “Can we come in?” “Can we show you our dance?” “How many minutes do we have left?”
Students come alone & together, to dance or to watch, carrying their own music or planning to choose from the pile of CDs I leave on the shelf. They shed their shoes & start to play. Sometimes they take out the props — the scarves, ribbons, hula hoops, or plastic spots for jumping. Sometimes they’re working in small groups on choreography from class. Or they teach each other drill routines they’ve learned somewhere else. When the bell rings, they [mostly] put things away, turn off the music, grab their shoes, and run back to class.
Some students come because they must — their behavior in class has cost them a recess & they report to me. They watch with amazement, and their questions are always the same: “What are these kids doing here?!” “So they come every day?!” Some of them ask, as recess ends, “Can I come back tomorrow?”
“Yes, of course.” It’s an alternative to 4-square & wall ball.
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