Yesterday I taught the K–5 summer Sunday school class.  Ten children came, including a visitor from Deerfield staying with her grandmother.  The children read the Pentecost story from Acts 2.  Then I planned two activities to connect to images from the story: red crepe paper streamers for the tongues of fire, and blowing a cotton ball across the floor with a straw to show the power of wind.  I expected the cotton ball activity to be fun, but it wasn’t clear to me how best to do it, and it degenerated into chaos.  My temperament is calm, and that of children generally is not.  But chaos marked the first Pentecost, so the chaos in our room was a happy accident.  I pulled them together for a last activity, coloring a Happy Birthday Church picture.  They enjoyed this.  Coloring a picture allowed them not only to do something with their hands but also to talk to one another at the same time — they could multitask.  The hour ended quickly as parents arrived from worship to pick up their children.  I passed out fliers to remind them of plans to plant a portion of our community garden.  Then I put the room back in order.  The energy from ten children could generate an EF-3 tornado. Teaching Sunday school from time to time is good experience for me, and it is good for the children to see a pastor in their room who knows their names.  Even if I didn’t impart much knowledge about Pentecost, for them to know I care about them enough to visit their world is important.  Next week a seasoned educator will take over the class and teach it much of the summer.  I’d like to be a cricket in the corner and watch her at work.  I would learn a lot, and I would be a quiet cricket.