Why I don't dress up on Halloween...

...and it's probably not what you're thinking.

I love Halloween. I love dressing up, I love how happy and excited kids get, I love it all. When I first started teaching 11 years ago I did not dress up for Halloween. I taught middle school, and the kids were already over excited, and I didn't want to distract them. There was learning to be done!

When I started teaching kiddos with EBD (Emotional/Behavioral Disorders) I stood by my rule of NO dressing up. I loved those kids. They were the most amazing people I have had the pleasure of working with and they BEGGED me to dress up. I told them something along the lines of "everyone be on Level 4 by Halloween and I'll dress up." (Level Systems are a tool to help teach students rules and expectations.) Well, wouldn't you know it that was the carrot that they needed. I had to dress up.

My husband and I dressed up for Halloween every year, and this year it just so happened that we went as an Orca Whale and her trainer. I did research. I made my costume that of a 7 year old female Orca. I was excited. I was Orca from head to toe. It was awesome. I decided to just wear this to school, so I didn't need to think of another one.

I went to school that morning, put on my costume and proceeded to teach my kiddos as a fully dressed Orca for an hour. The office called and asked one of my students to come down. No one said what they wanted him for, and I didn't think much of it. About five minutes later I heard glass breaking, and then I got the call from the office. Long story short, my student was suspended and he was angry. He started punching out the windows in the office. He ran out of the office and I had to put him into a restraint (keep in mind I am very trained, and he was being a risk to himself. I'm not going into details about him and why.) We were in the front of the school in the lobby. He was screaming and yelling. I was restraining him as a fully dressed killer whale. It looked bad. As I had him in a restraint, the entire sixth grade class walked by on their way to a field trip.

Picture him yelling......with a woman fully dressed as a Killer Whale. It looked like I was trying to eat him. I had him turned away from the hall so no one would see his face,

After he was calmed down, we walked back to my room. Without saying a word, I took my clothes and went to the faculty room, changed out of my costume, threw it in the garbage and that was it.

No costumes for the past 6 years.

Today I break that stretch. Wish me luck! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!