Frogs

   It was a normal recess. Green team was on the swings, Purple was on the field. All was well, girls jumping rope, boys tackling each other while playing kickball...until I heard it. The bloodcurdling scream that can mean only one thing: a frog.
   I know this probably seems a bit dramatic because, well, it is. However, I have come to understand that in first grade recess, a frog is no laughing matter. Well, not for the kids, anyway. Lizards are creepy, spiders are too, but in the minds of my students, nothing is to be more feared than a frog. I'll explain shortly.
   As the shrieks continued, I walked over to where several of my girls had surrounded the unfortunate amphibian. "MISS KATIE!", "A frog! A frog! A FROG!" and "KILL IT!" they screamed, running away, and then coming back to get a better look. "It's not going to hurt you. Just leave it alone, and it will hop away." I said. Although I've only been here for a month, I feel like this is the hundredth time I've said it. "But it will pee in my eye!" they cry. The classic response.
   For whatever reason, my students think that you will go blind if a frog pees in your eye. True or not, there is an obvious solution: don't pick up the frog. Once again, I explain this to my kids. Once again, it doesn't help. Shakira prepares to kill the frog with a rake she found. Hadassah and Samira grab handfuls of dirt. The rest of the girls scream intermittently,  and the boys have now come over to see what the commotion is about.
   Finally, I step between my kids and the frog, tell them to put the dirt and the rake down right now, shoo them back to the playground, and wait for the frog to hop off. It takes a few minutes, and several of the kids come back to check on it, but the frog finally hops through the fence, completely unaware of the chaos it caused.
   This scenario will probably take place again at least two more times this week. And the next week. And the week after that. But it makes me laugh every time. Oh, how I love my first graders.