Surprises

One of the best parts of being a teacher is that no matter how well you plan, you never quite know what's going to happen each day. January was a particularly amazing month for surprises. The best was watching a soldier dad (fresh from Afghanistan) walk right in (with news cameras and reporters in tow) during math to surprise his daughter on her birthday. What a tearjerker! The class was eager to meet Spc. Artiglio and pose for a photo with their own class hero!

Although not nearly as emotional, my birthday held a few surprises as well. We started off the day with Abby's entire 1st grade class and my class from last year bombarding me with balloons, a silly t-shirt, crazy hat, ice cream and celebratory songs. It was quite a morning!

Then, just before lunch - Super Grover made an appearance.

Right at this exact moment, above all the groans and gagging, one well-voiced student declared, "It is not part of my contract to see my teacher get kissed!"

Even my little niece Ellie, brought in a special birthday extra-credit. She must have spent hours searching through my parents' house to find the most disgusting photos of my adolescence to bring in and share. You're dead meat on your birthday Ellie!