The Curse of the Full Moon

Do you suffer from the curse of the full moon? I do. I am suffering from it right now. The full moon peaks on October 12th (tomorrow) and the kids are intensely feeling it.

Some people think I am crazy. Others who pay attention will find that I am not crazy. I have paid attention to this phenomenon for several years now. And I can safely say that the crazy level of the classroom dramatically increases at this point every month. Try to document it sometime and tell me what you notice!

My class has been settling in quite well so far this year. That first full moon was right at the beginning of the year, so we didn't have a chance to experience its glory. Today, though, was a different story.

The energy level was higher. The general volume was higher. There was less focus and more messing around. I saw behaviors out of some of my children that I have never seen before. There were plenty of moments of saying (thinking) "Who are you??"

At the same time, I realized that I needed to take a step back and forget about my own expectations. I had to remove myself from situations and "trade kids" with my assistant. Remember what I posted the other day about the kids being happy? For the most part they were. When I took a moment to step back and look at the whole picture, again they were involved in activities that made them happy. Sometimes what seemed like inappropriate behavior was actually something worthwhile that needed to be tweaked. It's all about perspective.

It just requires more effort during that full moon.