Something to Cheer About?

Mrs. Eagle and I attended the NSTA conference in Nashville last weekend and had a wonderful time, picked up some fantastic ideas (as usual) and bought some really cool stuff.

On an aside, this was held at the Opryland Hotel which in May had something like 15' of water in it from the flooding.  It just opened about two weeks prior to the conference so we were eager to see how it had been repaired.  Oh.  My.  You would NEVER know that the building had been damaged so badly.  There was absolutely no sign of it.  The place was amazing!

In any case, one of the really cool things I bought was a Dr. Seuss book, Oh Say Can You Seed?  Okay, it's actually not written or drawn by the late Dr. Seuss, but his family has authorized the use of his characters for educational publications done in the Seuss style.  This book is all about flowering plants and since we were just finishing up our unit on flowering plants, I just had to have it.  It's nice when you can find neat things that actually align with your standards.  And this book is really well done from the science standpoint.

So, back at school, we finished up our review for our on Tuesday and I had time to read this book to them.  I used the document reader so they could see all the pictures up on the screen, and took the last few minutes of class to give the kids a dose of Dr. Seuss.

It always amazes me how seventh graders will become deadly silent and completely absorbed when you read to them.  I've often wondered if I'd get the same results if I was reading cereal boxes.  They still love picture books.  And they love being read to.  So I read to them and you could have heard a pin drop.

Amazing.  I must do this more often.

However, the funniest, and most surprising response was from my sixth period class.    I read the book, finished the last page, and closed it.

And they applauded.

I am not kidding.

They applauded.

It was the weirdest thing.  And truth be told, it made us all laugh.  And they said how much they enjoyed it.

But seriously, as a teacher, when was the first (or last time) you ever got a round of applause for what we do each and every day?

Amazing.

The Mystery Club

This year we had a new club on campus called TAG. None of us really seemed to know much about TAG except that one of the newer 8th grade teachers was the sponsor, and most of the members seemed to be 8th graders. A lot of us thought it might have to do with technology, others (like myself) thought it might have to do with business skills as these kids came up with some really innovative ways to make money. And others pretty much gave up trying to figure out the club because the kids were always really vague on what it was about and gave answers along the lines of "if we told you, we'd have to kill you."

But the kids were always out there working hard, raising money, and they seemed to enjoy it, so we figured it was a pretty good thing.

Last week we found out what the TAG club was all about. According to The Principal, a number of 8th grade students came to her this past fall about putting together a club. She gets kids all the time coming to her about clubs, and she tells them all pretty much the same thing - find a teacher to sponsor your club and she'll sign off on it. She told this group the same thing and they went off and she figured she would never see them again.

Except they found a sponsor. And a new club was born. And the name of the club? The Teacher Appreciation Group.

I kid you not.

This group of kids wanted to put together a club for the SOLE PURPOSE of raising money to throw a party for their teachers and staff at the end of the school year as a way of letting us all know how much they appreciated all we've done for them for the past three years. They wanted it to be a surprise, and didn't really want to reveal who all was in the club until the party.

You should have heard the response in the faculty meeting when The Principal told us about this club and told us that the party would be after school on Thursday. We were dumbfounded. Amazed. Flattered. And just plain astonished.

Who would have thought, in this day and age, that a group of kids would want to spend all year raising money just so they could throw a party for their teachers?

Amazing.

So we had the party today and it was astonishing. Hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ chicken, sides, and acres of desserts. The kids had music playing, a massage chair set up (nice touch) and were offering to pour more punch, hand out another brownie, and to make sure none of us wanted for anything. They got up and expressed their thanks, talked about how much we meant to them, and just were awesome.

The best part? The kids in this group were not the popular kids, or the top academic kids, or the kids that really grab your attention. For the most part they were the middle of the road kids, the kids easily overlooked, the kids that didn't stand out for any particular reason. Many of the ones I had were kids who struggled in class, and honestly, had some rough times in seventh grade. But each and every one of them had an adult there who took him or her under his or her wing and, obviously, made a difference.

I've never been so proud of my kids. And so humbled.

Lemonade time...

The Bus Driver over at Tales of a Schoolbus Driver has bestowed upon me the “Lemonade” Award and it gave me some much needed blog love. Goodness knows, after the past two weeks I need a bit of love! Now I get to bestow it upon others!

Here are the rules:

1. You must link back to the person you received the award from.

2. You have to nominate 10 bloggers who are deserving of this award!

So, without further adieu, I hereby bestow The Lemonade Award upon:

1. Mrs. Cornelius over at A Shrewdness of Apes because she is a master at sarcasm and is one of the wittiest writers I've ever read. Her post a few years ago that was an open letter to idiot parents (something about using the UPS store as an address), was classic.

2. Cupcake over at A Truth Universally Acknowledged because she's an Austen fan (duh) as well and her descriptions of her geniuses leave me in stitches.

3. Chanman over at Buckhorn Road for reminding me, yet again, why I'm glad I don't live in California anymore.

4. Vegas Art Guy at The Desert Glows Green because I'm astounded at how much energy this guy has - does he ever sleep?

5. Elementary History Teacher over at History is Elementary because I totally borrowed her study guide idea (and it's rocking!) and because I can learn more reading her blog than I ever thought possible.

6. Happy Chyck over at Happy Chyck Wonders because I get depressed if she doesn't post much. She's just wonderful. And she edits yearbooks. Bless her.

7. Mrs. T. over at La Cucheria because she's another one I miss when she doesn't post much, she's funny, and I've found a lot of other good blogs through her recommendations.

8. Mr. Teacher over at Learn Me Good because his book rocks (buy it!) and because he's brave enough to teach 3rd grade, bless his little Darth Vader heart.

9. Princess Lionhead over at Princess Lionhead's Den because she's actually one of the few bloggers I've worked with in real life - she's a good friend and I miss her!

10. Secrets of a Middle School Secretary - she hasn't posted for a while, but when she does she reminds me of how much of the craziness the school secretaries keep at bay so we can do our jobs.


You are all wonderful!