corny

My first year of teaching made me nauseous, but not in the way you'd expect.

From time to time, I would be teaching in my fifth grade classroom and-all of a sudden- a wave of nausea would overcome me. It took weeks to discover that the teacher in the adjoining classroom was obsessed with every flavor of Corn nuts, and when she'd open the package of her daily treat, I would gag from the other room. When students caught on to this, they sympathized with my strong reaction, but it also became an inside joke in our classroom.

Fast forward to late April, when my wonderful group decided to throw me a surprise birthday party. One student, Anna, secretly collected $5 from each student in the class and ordered pizza to be delivered at lunch time. A group of students also gathered for two special projects: one a gift from each student, and the other a giant birthday banner. Somehow, they were able to keep all of this from me, and on my birthday I was genuinely surprised to see a pizza delivery man outside our door, and these two things:

1. Students rolled out the butcher paper banner, which said "Happy birthday, Ms. G." and was signed by all the kids. The prominent feature? Giant cans of Corn nuts with red anti- signs drawn over them!

2. Every student, each with a giant grin on their faces, pulled out a can of corn-nuts with a bow on top. (These, of course, were immediately delivered to the teacher next door, with instructions to take them home and enjoy them there! :)

Pretty awesome group of kids, huh? I absolutely LOVED the corniness!