Putting Yule To Use
The Source
When I was a regular in the ranks of Jr. High teachers, I counted the Christmas season as my favorite time of year. I suppose that most Middle School instructors saw the weeks prior to Christmas as a month-long struggle to keep kids’ attention, but many of us who’d been around the chalkboard for a few years came up with ways to make use of the spastic mood of the adolescent crowd. My particular exercise was a unit between Thanksgiving and Christmas in which I gave my students a choice of over 50 projects to choose from with a point value assigned to each. I’d say, “For once, the teacher doesn’t choose your grade. You do!” I was always amazed at how many students didn’t realize that every time they do a bit of schoolwork he’s choosing his grade. They ate it up. The projects ranged from the pleasant to the downright subversive: …Go to a nursing home and get the names of residents who seldom get mail. Send them a Christmas card. (Some places won’t tell you.) …Make a list of the things you want for Christmas then figure out how long Mom or Dad would have to work at minimum wage to buy them for you. …Interview a store manager and find out how much of his profit is made at Christmas season. (Most wouldn’t say.) …Ask your family to skip buying you one gift and give instead to the Salvation Army. (Ouch!) …Make a gift for someone and make sure they don’t know who gave it to them. …If your family is Christian, ask if they would research Hanukah and then celebrate it one evening. …Spend an entire day encouraging other people without a single negative comment coming out of your mouth then write a report of how you succeeded or suffered. …Find an evening to simply talk to one of your grandparents…just the two of you. …Find a way to kidnap your grandmother and take her on a picnic…even in the snow. …Ask one of your teachers to describe the first Christmas she or he can remember. (Teachers were generally delighted to answer this one.) …Interview a sidewalk or department store Santa about the trials and joys of their job. …Ask Salvation Army bell ringers what sort of people are the most generous givers. Can you tell by their looks when you see them coming? …Help the school cooks clean up the cafeteria. …See if your family can “suffer through” an old-fashioned night at home. Shut off every electric gadget...even the lights…get out the candles. String popcorn for the Christmas tree, learn how to pull taffy and do it, everyone read a book for an hour, and if Mom will allow it and it’s dark, you can even pee outdoors. ---Stand around the checkout lane of a grocery store and offer to carry shoppers’ bags to their cars. (One store would not allow it.) ---Stop people at the Mall and ask them if they’re happy. ---Count up the ways around your house that Christmas adds to your energy bill then come up with a plan for a eco-friendly Christmas. ---Make a list of three people you love and write them each a letter to tell them why. And strangely one of the most subversive things on the list was the most simple: Pick a day when you’re going Christmas shopping and in every store, walk up to people, smile sincerely, and say, ‘I hope you have a great Christmas!” The kids were to then write a report on the responses they received. A smattering: “What do you want?” “I already gave money at the kettle.” “Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it.” Although most of the responses were less than warm and welcoming, many expressed gratitude and a smile. Still…it made us all wonder if perhaps we’ve lost some of the Christmas spirit in the bustle of the season. There are worse things to be at Christmas than a naïve 12-year-old.