Kitty High Five

 

Penelope declining to give me a high five

In the spring, before all the schools closed, I was observing one of my students at an elementary school. I was there until the end of the day and then stayed a few extra minutes so I wouldn't get stuck in the dismissal traffic.

Some students came to the library to wait for their bus to be called, and in what seemed to be a routine, they took over the computer and SMART board and played Go Noodle videos. What tickled me about this was that the students just watched the videos rather than joining into the movements. (Getting kids moving, is kind of the point of Go Noodle.)

Kids would take turns requesting favorite videos and up they would go. Until someone selected Kitty High Five. Many of the kids were actually moving to this one, giving the various suggested high fives. When the video said to give the teacher a high five, one of the girls came up to me with her hand up. I high fived her. (Couldn't leave her hanging!)

My student looked over at me. "You touched a kid! They have germs. Especially on their hands. Here's the hand sanitizer."

After having a toddler cough directly into my face after story time in the public library, watching my elementary school students pulling loose teeth during library class, and surviving all the plagues my own children brought home from daycare I had a pretty cavalier attitude about protecting myself from kid germs and a lot of faith in my now quite hearty immune system. High fiving this fifth grader I had just met was no problem. 

I miss visiting my students in their schools and seeing all the great work they are doing first hand. I miss seeing their students. I miss high fives. 

I'll play myself out with Kitty High Five.