Heads Down, Thumbs up...7 Up!!

Ha ha! I just got an email from Kristi and she said, "Remember how teachers used to get the whole class to put their heads down on their desks to settle things down?" We don't do that anymore and it seems hilarious in retrospect. Maybe I should say that I don't do that and I have never seen anyone do it since I became a teacher. Even better, Kristi also remembered how sometimes if you were especially bad, you had to put your head down on your desk while the rest of the class resumed what they were doing. These memories made me laugh.

Speaking of heads down on desks, one of my favourite games to play as a kid in school was 7 Up. I remember getting quite spastic inside with excitement when we were allowed to play and the funny part is, kids still love that game. I taught grade 8 last year and I used to let them play it all of the time during homeroom at the end of the day and they loved it. It is even quite fun watching as a teacher and I get to say the magic words, "Heads down, thumbs up...7 up!" Oh the power!!!

I love watching the kids choose whose thumb they will touch and nothing has changed since we were little:

• there is the kid who always pinches or pulls back some one's thumb
  
• the nerdy boys who are so pleased with themselves after they touch the pretty girls thumbs
• the kid who stretches as far as he can to tap someone so they can't see his shoes
• having your thumb touched so lightly that you are not sure if it was a real touch or accidental, which leads to the dilemma of whether to stand up or not.
• the kid who has a strategy and touches the person who is least likely to ever guess it was them-like the most popular boy choosing the quietest, shyest girl who would die of mortification if she ever had to say that boy's name out loud
• and of course there is the kid who always peeks-that certainly never changes

It's important to remember that maybe times haven't really changed all that much after all.

Hmmm...it just occurred to me that the game is not named after pop, it has to do with the fact that after the thumbs are all touched, 7 people stand up. I am so stupid-I remember as a kid sitting there, trying to figure out why it was named after a soft drink.