Traipse through the sawdust

The newest edition of the Education Buzz Carnival just came out over at Bellringers, so mosey on over there and smell the greasepaint and try not to point at the freaks. I haven't really had a chance to head over there myself just yet, but if you save me a seat on the Tilt-a-Whirl, I'll be there.

Tomorrow, at my school, we're supposed to wear a shirt that somehow symbolizes a form of labor, in honor of... wait for it... Rosh Hashanah. No, I think it's for Labor Day. Anyway, I haven't decided what I am going to wear.

I suggested to a female colleague that she stuff 3 pillows under her shirt, walk around sweaty and holding her back all day, and around noon, spill a bunch of water on the floor. She politely declined.

My next thought was to wear a shirt depicting Hercules, he of the 12 Labors. After all, what public school teacher hasn't at SOME point felt like he was cleaning out the Augean Stables or skin the Nemean Lion? (OK, I googled it.)

There's always the plumber route, but do I really want the kids to see my crack? Nah.

I'll probably just wind up wearing some old t-shirt from a community service project or something. But I can already tell I need to start thinking ahead for Arbor Day...

Faster than a speeding 3rd grader

Just in case anyone was wondering, yesterday for Dress As a Character from a Book Day(TM), I decided to forgo the lazy route of wearing a white T-shirt with the words "Sam-I-Am" scribbled on it. Instead, I decided on a character from a COMIC book.

Can you guess who I am? And despite several comments from the kids of, "Why is Mister Teacher dressed up like a dork?" it should be easy to tell who i am...

I'm such a character

Tomorrow is Dress As Your Favorite Character in a Book Day ™. I can't think of any stories that deal primarily with a major procrastinator, but that would have been ideal for me. Instead, I have been racking my brain all day long trying to think of something that would be easy and manageable, not to mention recognizable by the kids.

That last little bit of course throws out all of the “adult” novels. Goodbye Tom Clancy. So long Charles Dickens. Nice to know ya, Victor Hugo. And saddest of all, no Stephen King. Here I thought I could come as Johnny Smith from the Dead Zone. I wouldn't have a very distinctive style of dress, but I COULD have fun going around shaking the kids’ hands and making eerie and creepy prophecies.

“You are going to have a flat hamburger for lunch. You're going to get put in time out at 1:24. You're going to fidget.”

Then I looked through my collection and found a wonderful book by a noted author, Patricia Polacco. I thought how fun it would be to dress as the title character. Of course, I would be putting my job in jeopardy every time I told the kids who I was dressed as. But I could just wear a shirt and tie, with a blazer. And the only modification would be a big name tag that read, "Hello, my name is Mr. Falker.”