We don't scream for ice cream

On Friday, Ms. Jenn Ed and I were scheduled to have our second Lunch Bunch, for the kids in our classes who had done all of their homework for the previous three weeks. You may recall, the first time we did Lunch Bunch, we had a whopping 11 students (out of 41 on our rosters) who had done all of their homework. This time around, we saw a massive increase, as the Lunch Bunch swelled to THIRTEEN students!

Unfortunately, I had an extremely long day on Thursday -- I was at the school from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. -- and I just didn't have the energy to run by the store that night to buy ice cream. So Friday morning, I informed the kids that we would be moving the Lunch Bunch to Monday, when I would have a chance to get ice cream. They told me, almost unanimously, that they didn't care about the ice cream. They just wanted to do the Lunch Bunch with their teachers. I say ALMOST unanimously, because one of the little bratty girls in my class began shouting that she DID care about the ice cream. I had to force myself to use a gentle tone while reminding her that she was not in fact a member of the Lunch Bunch, and that her opinion on the issue mattered less than my opinion on No Child Left Behind.

So we had our Lunch Bunch, and it was a stellar affair full of revelry. I even bonded with one of my kids over our mutual taste in comic book superheroes. As part of their lunch, all of the kids had gotten Ring Pops. Several of them were holding them up in the air exclaiming, "Look! We're superheroes!"

I mentioned to the boy sitting next to me that only the kids with GREEN Ring Pops were really superheroes, because they could be the Green Lantern. The boy looked at me with disdain and stated, "I don't care about the Green Lantern. I would rather be The Flash."

In case you're not aware, I have a strong affinity with The Flash. I've always loved that character, and that was even my perennial Halloween costume for about six years running, no pun intended.

So I looked at the boy with newfound respect and asked, "You like The Flash?" He nodded, and then said in his pristine French accent, "If Superman and The Flash had a race, The Flash would win. I think it is because The Flash is the master of running, and Superman is the master of flying."

That boy is going to go far.

In sadder news, I lost one of my little sweethearts on Friday. One of our apartment complexes closed over Christmas break, and all of the residents had to move. Unfortunately, this little girl in my class moved to a nearby apartment that feeds into ANOTHER elementary school. When our office discovered this, they withdrew her.

I was in a meeting late Friday afternoon, and I got back to my room just minutes before three o'clock. Just in time to see the little girl walk out of Ms. Jenn Ed's classroom in tears. She walked up to me, gave me a big hug, and said, "I sure am gonna miss you."

I sure am going to miss her too. She was an island of sweetness and behavior in this year's choppy waters of insolence and apathy.

Lunch Bunch Crunch

Today, Ms. Jenn Ed and I held our very first lunch bunch rewards party.

Tired of too many kids not doing their homework, we made a big announcement at the beginning of this six weeks period. We wrote all 41 of our kids' names on whiteboards, and told them that every time someone didn't hand in their homework when it was due, their name would be erased from the board. We told them that after three weeks, whoever's name was still on the board would get to come to a very special lunch bunch with their teachers. There would be ice cream, juice boxes, Turkish delight (no wait, that's Narnia).

We kind of figured that at the end of three weeks, there wouldn't be that many kids left on the board. However, we also figured that if we really pulled out all the stops and made this first lunch bunch truly legendary, that the kids involved would go back and hype it up to the other kids, and that we might have a lot more homework being turned in after that.

That last supposition remains to be seen. But the lunch bunch today seemed to be a success. There were 11 kids (yes, out of 41). Those kids got to bring their lunch back to my room, where we gave them chips, candy, juice boxes, and ice cream. We ate with the kids and joked around with them.

I had made up a Christmas-themed CD for us to listen to. Interestingly enough, the song that really fired the kids up was Feliz Navidad (I want to wish you a Merry Christmas). I started singing "I want to wish ____a Merry Christmas," inserting the names of some of the kids in the room, and much hilarity ensued.

Now will just have to see how this success translates to the other kids turning their homework in.

Maybe we'll have 12 kids next time...