Holla!

Breaking news: Miss K's class won Field Day by a staggering one point!! (Is it sad that this is major news in my life right now? LOL.) My kids were so excited, though. I gave them the "we will either win as a team or lose as a team" speech immediately beforehand, and stressed the important of teamwork and good communication. And I have to tell you, they totally pulled together today--I was SO proud. That kind of "family" atmosphere is something I work to build each and every year; it's a hallmark of my classroom, and today it showed.

We originally chose "School Kids on the Block" as our team name and pink as our team color--for no particular reason other than the girls outvotiing the boys, LOL. But the Men of Miss K's Class all rallied and pink'd themselves OUT today, to the point that several other teachers were worried that they would have gender identity issues down the road. P., whom you all know and love, actually showed up wearing PINK NAIL POLISH today, LOLOL. After one of his "events" today, the football toss (which, come on, he had in the bag before they even started throwing), he wiggled his fingers at me and said, "It must have been the nails, Miss K!" I about died). Anyway, once we showed up this morning and my room was a sea of pink, we suddenly decided to change to the Pink Panthers, which I thought was equally genius. In fact, I'm making the Pink Panters a K. tradition from now on.

Anyway, the fifth graders all had a great time, and the grand finale of the event was a teacher getting a whipped cream pie in the face. Do I even need to tell you which teacher that was? I looked like the psychotic clown from Stephen King's "It." Also, do you have any idea how badly whipped cream starts to stink when it's been sitting in your hair for 6 hours, ESPECIALLY when a good hour of that is outside in the hot Florida sun? Dude, I was RIPE. (Since I was the only teacher willing to get whipped creamed, my personal suspicion is that my "bring it on" attitude earned us a couple of "cool points" with the PE teacher, leading to our ultimate one-point victory. But hey, we'll take 'em where we can get 'em.)

And THAT'S the latest from fifth grade. PS--the word on the street is that the FCAT scores will be released tomorrow morning. These are the standardized tests that determine everything from your school grade (uber-importante) to your worth as a teacher. Think good thoughts...this is a HUGE deal.

Bonus pic: Here's a great shot of the Sheikra (Busch Gardens) captured by one of my parents. This is the infamous attraction that my kids made me ride many (many, many) times in a row, just because they could (note: that boulder is hiding the second HALF of that drop. It's a bitch).