January 8th, 2010

Do you ever have those moments that seem so surreal or so completely trite, or such an odd combination of the two that you can't help but thinking they have been pulled directly from a movie script?

I had one of those today. Our semester ends next week and all make-up work and test retakes were due today, so of course my classroom was buzzing with activity after the bell rang. It ended up being a late day (Guh, what day isn't a late day anymore?) but some of my kids (my students- yep, I call them "my kids") were hanging around and it was one of those lovely moments in which I am reminded that I do actually love my job.

The kids stood around my desk, talking about World War II, as I was gathering my things to finally leave after a ridiculously long day (ha, 15 year old nerds, talking about history after school...love it!) We laughed at some joke as I followed them out of the room, and after the enthusiastic chorus of "Goodnight, Ms. E," I turned to scan the room for forgotten items before shutting the door. I was suddenly filled with a sense of complete happiness and I could literally feel my heart swell with pride as I glanced over the student art that adorned the walls around my desk, the stack of graded tests on my desk (so much improvement!) and the remnants of the epic Rome vs. Greece competition. I stood for a moment, eyes sweeping the room and I smiled, I couldn't help myself really. The smile continued to dance across my lips as I flipped the light switch and slowly closed the door.

Fade to black.
Scene.