Good Kids

I take back every bad thing I've ever said about my students.

Last week I was totally blind-sided by their awesomeness, but I haven't had time to blog about it until now.

It all happened first hour on last Thursday morning.  I was walking to my math class when my boss came up to me and said, "Hey Christine - here."  He handed me a crumpled up piece of paper that looked like a dropped note.  "I didn't drop this," I told him, looking confused.  I opened the note, and it said something about Melissa thinking math is a bore.  "Whose is this?" I asked my boss.  "It's not mine...should I just throw it away?"  He said no, that it's mine and I should read it.  I asked if someone told him to give it to me, and he nodded, smiled, and walked away.

Hmmm... So I was alone in the hall with this mysterious crumpled up note from my boss that wasn't from my boss because someone gave it to him to give to me.  This was a lot to process before eight in the morning.  I opened it up again and read the whole thing this time: "Melissa says that math is a bore, but you'll find the next clue on the __________________."  I looked around to see if any students were peeking around corners or anything.  Nope.  It certainly looked like the beginning of a scavenger hunt, but junior high kids tend to have a penchant for pranks.  Who knew what I could get myself into if I followed the note?  I shrugged and went to my first hour class.

The students in my first hour were looking at me expectantly, so clearly they knew I'd been given the note.  Now I was curious.  "What are you guys up to?"  I asked.  "What is this note for?"  They urged me to just do what it said and not ask questions.  Oh boy.  Obviously the answer to the first clue is "floor," so I started circling around my classroom looking for a clue on the floor.  The kids seemed confused.

"Umm...Mrs. Webb?  What are you doing?"  one of them finally asked.

"I'm looking for a clue on the floor," I answered.  Because really, that's the OBVIOUS answer to that clue, right?  You thought it too.  Admit it.

The whole class burst out laughing.  "It's not on the FLOOR, Mrs. Webb!" (like that was the most ridiculous thing they'd ever heard). "Try somewhere else!"  Oops.  Okay, not on the floor.  So I employed my best rhyming skills and tried "door."  Bingo.  The next clue was taped on the edge of the door that meets the wall when the door is closed.  Tricky.  That clue led me to the next clue on top of my projector, and that one led me to a clue on my writing process wall, and THAT clue led me to one taped under my desk chair... You get the idea.  Lots of clues.

The whole class was laughing and having a great time, and I was getting increasingly more nervous.  "What is this leading to?" I kept asking.  "Is something going to jump out at me?  Is this going to hurt?"  This obviously made them laugh harder.  While I was searching, a few of the sixth graders from the other class came into the room too.  I asked what they were doing there, and they said Mr. K (my boss) had given them permission to come watch me.  Oh joy.  I couldn't concern myself with them too much, though, because I was on a mission to find....something.

One of the clues led to the inside of one of my library books about prisons (that was a hard one to solve), and on the inside of the book was taped a flash drive.  I had to plug in the flash drive and click on the only file on it, labeled "READ ME."  I was afraid it was going to blow up my computer or something - I have some pretty tech-savvy kids - but it just led me to the next clue.  There was also a link that said "click here," which I was very skeptical of doing.  I pretended I didn't see it and went to move to the next clue, but the kid who made that clue said, "Mrs. Webb - you missed the link!  Look what it does!"  He clicked it, you can click it too if you want to see what it is.  Words don't really do it justice. (no viruses, I promise): CLICK HERE

Is that not the CUTEST thing EVER?  And clearly it shows that my students know me super well.  I left it as the computer background for the rest of the day.

After I found that clue, I looked up on my cabinets and saw a video camera.  "Are you TAPING me?" I asked, surprised and mildly creeped out.  "What?!  What are you taping?  WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME?!"  I jumped up on a chair and grabbed the camera.  Sure enough, it was on record. I turned it off and put it on the counter.  The sneaky little buggers were laughing hysterically that I discovered their "hidden" camera.

I soldiered on in clue finding (I think there was only one past the flash drive clue), and finally the clues led me to a large box hidden behind some other boxes in a corner of my room.  It was taped shut, and I wasn't sure I wanted to open it.  There was an awful lot of hype about this box.  "What's in here?" I asked one more time.  "Is something going to jump out?"

They all gave me an emphatic "no" and insisted that I open the box.  The promised I would like what was inside.  Well....

...drumroll please...

I opened the box....

....and....

It was full of a bunch of beautiful, new school supplies!  If you're a teacher, you'll understand how much teachers NEED the following items: pens, pencils, kleenex boxes, dry-erase markers, erasers, a new art set, candles, etc.  So many things.  The box was full.  I was completely stunned.  "Is this all for me?" I asked.  "This stuff is amazing!  Thank you!  But....why?  It's not my birthday or anything..."  I wracked my brain for a holiday I was missing.  It wasn't Teacher Appreciation Week.  It wasn't my birthday.  It wasn't my anniversary (not that my students would know that anyway).  What was it?

One girl spoke up for the bunch: "The kids on the bus were talking, and we realized that we are always using up your supplies and messing up your room, and we never say thank you or give you anything back.  So we all chipped in and got you some new things that we thought you could use to finish up the rest of the year."

WHAT.

What junior high kids EVER think of something like that?!  My kids, that's who.  The sixth graders who had come to watch the scavenger hunt were in on it too.  All the students smiled at me, clearly so excited to offer me their gift, and I wanted to burst into tears (which I didn't, obviously, because that would be quite unprofessional).  But isn't that the NICEST thing you have ever heard in your LIFE!?  I realize I'm excessively using capital letters here, but they deserve them.  I was so touched.  The kids who ride the bus usually don't get to school until right when the bell rings at 8:00, so that morning they'd had their parents bring them in at 7:15 to set up the scavenger hunt before I got to school at 7:30.  It took a tremendous amount of thought and planning - some of the students even went shopping together for their contributions to my gift.  If I know one thing about junior high students, it's that they're generally terrible at keeping secrets.  They kept this one really well, however, because I was totally and 100% surprised.

I realize that there's a Teacher Appreciation Week, and I do appreciate small gifts and cards I get during that week, but this was a million times better because the students thought of it and put the whole thing together themselves.  Also it was a total surprise, which somehow always makes presents more fun.

So there.  I have the best kids in America.  I just thought you should know that.