Angels Smiled Upon Me

I should probably pinch myself right now. Enter blogging: the new way to verify your existence. Today was out-of-this-world. My classes have never been so well-behaved. Of course, there were elements of normalcy; I still had to send a kid out of class for disruptive behavior, I confiscated a pretty nasty note, and another student yelled that a classmate's feet "smelled like dead birds."

Despite its rudeness, it did work in the context of today's discussion of similes, and the girl who the comment was aimed at took it in stride.

My second period- typically my loudest and most dramatic- was incredibly subdued all week. They worked quietly for the most part- until I was auctioning off prizes at the end of class and made the mistake of thinking Playstation games might be a fun prize to earn at school. Apparently, Playstation One discs are more outdated than knickerbockers and shoes with buckles on them. They were laughing and screaming like drunken hyenas.

The principal made a rare visit to my fourth period class as I was explaining the vocabulary assignment, and he saw first hand the implications of only having 6 dictionaries for 20-some students. He radioed down for the custodian to burrow through the insane bookrooms and bring me 20 more. It was thrilling. No more excuses for any student not to be working on their words. Angels have smiled upon me.

And as if the previous events weren't lovely enough- during 5th period the professional-development resource teacher came and snagged four of my most disruptive students to take them to a special class. The class was more efficient and focused than ever before. If everyday was like this I would be down with this job.

Here are some of the fine similes my students crafted today:

"A best friend is like a lung, you need it to live."

"Math is like a concentration camp."

"Music is like water, filling up your head."

"Mardi Gras is like a rainbow, it's exploding with colors."

And- one of the day's best-

"School is like medicine, you don't like it but it helps."

FRIDAY!