St. Patrick's Day

I have mixed feelings about St. Patrick's Day in the classroom. On one hand, it is fun to set the leprechaun traps and hope that we catch one... But there's always one kid who gets *really* upset by the leprechaun's visit and feels as though the entire day has been ruined. 

Most of the kids just think the leprechaun is to blame for everything that goes wrong. ("The leprechaun took my pencil!" "He took my glue!" ...  No, guys, that's just you not keeping track of your things. I don't think the leprechaun wants your pencil and glue.) 

The day always begins somewhat normally... 

I mean, with the exception of being all green. 

We share our leprechaun traps... 

And then, before we know it, a leprechaun sneaks in! They always come when the room is empty. They don't like noise. 

The leprechaun leaves footprints everywhere. 

Even on our printer... And some of our books! 

Then he messes up our desks, chairs, papers, books... Anything he can get his hands on! 

I recorded several students being interviewed about the experience. I told them "maybe we'll be put on the news after I report this leprechaun to the police!" (Of course, nothing could top the 2006 news story of the leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama...) SEE SOME OF THE INTERVIEWS HERE! 

We also made our pot of gold sharing what we feel lucky to have:

Then we went in search of some lucky clovers! 

Two kids found a four-leaf clover. Ellison said he didn't understand how the clover brought him luck...  Kaleb said "just finding the clover is lucky because they're rare!" ;) 

Did the leprechaun visit you? 

Robbie, a middle schooler who stops by twice a week to help tutor kids in the afternoon, said "Mrs. Richardson, you make this a lot more convincing than any of my teachers ever did." I told him I had no idea what he was talking about.