Hats Off to Summer!

So there are these three kids in one 4th grade class who are too cool for school and constantly wear their baseball caps INSIDE. Now call me old school but I find this highly disrespectful. Apparently, so does the school because it's in the dress code. For the past three visits to me, they have had to be reminded to remove their hats entering my classroom.

Today was the AR assembly and I was there to relieve the classroom teacher and take them back to my PAWS classroom. In the not so straight (as in more crooked than Lombard Street) that I am straightening out, I see three hats. Sighhhhhhh. Actually, it was more like grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I take the hats off the heads of the boys in front of their teacher. She just stood there. I explained that the hats were now mine until I decided to give them back. She blinked a few times. I thought about checking for a pulse from her to see if she was actually still breathing but turned my attention back to the class. The teacher look is all it took to get the class in a straight line.

As we returned to my room, I had the hat offenders get out a sheet of paper and a pencil. Now I am TOTALLY and COMPLETELY against the old "write 50 times I will not wear my hat in the classroom" writing. I believe writing as a punishment (repetitive writing with no real meaning) is wrong. However, I do believe in the power of words and thus a letter is NOT punishment but time to reflect and process, as well as apologize to the person you are writing to. I decided to use the objective: I can write persuasive text and had the boys write me a letter to convince me to give them back their hats.

Here are the letters: (All spelling is correct) (SIC) <---- took me years to figure out what that meant.

Dear Mrs. Berdine (strike one - I am not Mrs. Berdine although they often confuse me with the Art teacher)
I am rilly sorry for wering my hat. If you don't like this letter you can take the hat. I wont wher the hat inside. I would only wher it outside. When we got inside I would take it off. I feel Bad for whering the hat inside. I hope this letter convisis you to give the hat back. Sinserly (name inserted) :-) <---- yes, he really put the smiley face! Actually two of them one after his first name and once after his last name.

Um... No.

Letter #2

I (insert name here, including official middle initial!) promise to take off my hat inside the room because it's disrespectful and wrong. I can and will stop leaving my hat on inside a room or classroom. Now I truly know why it's wrong and just unexepdible. I really just can't feel if my hat is on or off because I always wear my hat and it gets like it's not there when it really is on. I'm very sorry and I feel bad for this bad behavior and it's wrong I understand very much but it's a very bad habit for me to wear my hat everywhere and it's hard for me so stop as soon as I walk in a building but when I don't I just wave off and forget to take off my hat i'm so sorry. I hate me for always forgeting simple. things like not even remembering to take off my hat when I walk into a building. I fail to do this every single time I walk into a room and I hate having that bad habit all of the time. Sometimes I can't stand this habit myself. It's bad and it can ruin my life at times to me because you I've warn a hat for 3 years now in a row. I can't stand this habit at all. But you can probably understand I hope that no one is perfect and that everyone makes mistakes. Scincerly, (insert name here)

Um... I've inserted enough guilt into this kid. He can have his hat back.

Letter # 3

Mrs. ********,
I'm sorry I wore my hat indoors. Ocasionaly I can't feel when my hat is on. I do not mean to disrespect you or the campus or anyone on it. I highly respect the campus, but it always feels like home, and I wear my hat at home. My parents don't mind and Mrs. R (his classroom teacher) isn't very strict about hats. Again, I am sorry for pushing your buttons. (I'VE NEVER USED THIS PHRASE IN CLASS!!!!!) And the campus for that matter. I don't have a reason other than I need that hat.
Sincerely, (insert name here) :-) (<------- another smiley face!!!!)

Um.... you can have the hat back.

They didn't sit together to write the letters so I thought it was hysterical that they all claim to not "feel" the hat on their heads.


Better yet... next time they wear their baseball hats in class, I will make them give me their hat and let them wear this one:







Ok.. maybe that's going a little too far...
I'm off to search for chocolate! Only 3 and a half days till summmmmmmerrrrrr!