"Remember, remember, the 5th of November" - V

And you thought I was done there .... HA! Haha! It wasn't even my birthday yet! :)

Meet Thursday morning. November 5th:

5:30-freaking-am. Sitting down with a bowl of every-morning-routinely-grain-cereal and a flinstone vitamin. Emma creeps down the hallway like her usual sneaky silent self. "Goodmorning! Happy birthday!" All the thoughts going through my head in one split second: "O.M.G. What are you doing up?? What day is it?? It's my birthday?? Why are you awake? Why are you so peppy and happy? What is going on? Emma? Is that you? Huuuuuhhhh?????" I was too caught off guard to thank my wonderful roomy enough for getting my day off to a special start. She's too good to me :)

Lynchburg city schools are different from anything I have seen in Minnesota districts. They have periods 1 - 7, but 1st period is optional. So the really devoted and high achieving students take on early morning, 7am, bright and ridiculous, 1st period classes. I was also voted a teacher to wake up with the crazies. So, I pull in to school at about...6:55am. School begins at 7am. By the time I round the corner and come to my door, twenty-seven early morning faces are there to greet me and wait for me to key the door open and let them in.

These are not your regular students. I pull in with a morning voice, unwoken eyes, and a thrown together hairdo. These students are yelling, joking, singing, dancing, wrestling, and laughing. I have never seen such awakeners in my life.

One day a student told me, "I'm really tired today," and proceeded to tackel another's backpack and turtle it (turn it inside out). Tired. Yea. Looks like it.

I love my first period students. It's not dead. It's not silent. We are very alive every morning. And I'd choose no better teens to start my day out with each weekday.

Also, they have this idea that I have ninja appearing skills because it is a long hallway that they never see me walking down and suddenly BAM I'm there at the door with my keys appearing in thin air. They think I have the ability to teleport and defeat the logic of physics. Really, I'm just short; this doesn't occur to them. Everyday: "Ms. BEICH! How do you DO that!? Where did you COME from! Seriously. No, for real. We've been staring at the hallway. We never looked away. That's CRAZY." Teachers are magical; what more is there to prove?

This particular day was a special day. It was a different day. I had forgotten to heed Vendetta's warning. :)

Instead of letting me morph into myself mid-hallway, they met me right in the corridors. I round the corner; "MS. BEICH!!!! (one mili-second pause) HAAAAAAPPY BIIIIRTHDAAAAY TO YOOOOOOU!!!!!!! HAAAAAAPPY BIIIIIRTHHH...." My boys chase me down the WHOLE length of the hallway, screaming my birthday song at the top of their lungs. I was bright red and shaking my head, but I have never felt so important in my life. I'd choose to hear my birthday song from no other. My heart melted.

Upon entering the classroom, they set right to work on decorating the board with a large birthday cake and sign and all in the 5-minutes before the bell rang when I held to "I appreciate you all, but in your seats or tardy!" They did a fantastic job.

I couldn't love my school, my students, my life more.

All throughout the day students "Happy Birthday!"-ed when walking in the door frame to our artsy and bright classroom. Half of the periods were organized enough to all sing the song in unison during journal time. I was sure to return a "Thank-you, name!" to every special student who made my day so incredible.

What a life I have.