“Good Morning, Dear Students” (An April Fools poem to share with students)

April Fools’ Day is my least favorite day of the school year. I’m always happy when the date lands on a weekend. For a teacher, it’s a matter of trying to respond appropriately to “There’s a spider on your back!” over and over and over again. I don’t know why, but that seems to be the prevailing “joke” that kids like to play on teachers.  It’s usually followed by uncontrollable laughter – as though the line was completely original.  And perhaps, for that particular child, it is, which is why I always try to keep a positive attitude about it.

Here’s a poem I found that the kids enjoy reading on this momentous day:

Good Morning, Dear Students
~By Kenn Nesbitt~

“Good morning, dear students,” the principal said,
“Please put down your pencils and go back to bed.
Today we will spend the day playing outside
Then take the whole school on a carnival ride.

“We’ll learn to eat candy while watching TV
then listen to records and swing from a tree.
We’ll also be learning to draw on the walls,
to scream in the classrooms and run in the halls.

“So bring your skateboard, your scooter, your bike.
It’s time to be different and do what you like.
The teachers are going to give you a rest.
You don’t have to study. There won’t be a test.

“And if you’d prefer, for a bit of a change,
feel free to go wild and act really strange.
Go put on a clown suit and dye your hair green,
and copy your face on the Xerox machine.

“Tomorrow, it’s back to the regular grind.
Today, just go crazy. We really don’t mind.
So tear up your homework. We’ll give you an A.
Oh wait. I’m just kidding. It’s April Fools’ Day!”