Literature Comes to Life

Yesterday I subbed for junior high literature class. I had 6th through 8th graders all day, and for the most part the kids were really, really good. They all participated in class and read quietly or did other homework after finishing their assignments.

Then I had homeroom/"exploratory".

This particular teacher's homeroom consisted of all the 8th grade boys. And during exploratory they were playing indoor soccer.

Imagine this scene with me. Twenty-five 8th grade boys. In a gymnasium. With a soccer ball.

This is how chaos is defined.

The boys entered the gym and immediately started attacking one another. It was like Lord of the Flies had come alive right before my eyes. Punching, body slamming, literally jumping off the walls. No one seemed to be getting hurt but I was a little concerned because the boys were all different sizes. Some boys were over 6 feet tall and 200+ lbs. Others were 4' 5" and probably no more than 80 lbs. And they were ALL attacking one another! Is this normal? I think the answer is maybe yes. But the scene definitely made me fear having children.

Size difference between the boys (dramatization)

I finally managed to get the ball and separated the boys into groups. Thankfully they all played and played together well, for the most part. The boys frequently tackled one another, or their shoes would fly up into the ceiling, and every single one of them would kick the ball as hard as possible each time they got it. Needless to say, I had to shout a few times to maintain order. I spent the entire 45 minutes praying that no one would die or bleed. And no one did. But I would say that subbing PE would not be my first choice. It's just too risky with all of those shoes flying in the air.