Cast of Characters

I was once told that each person has a unique cast of characters that they get to walk through and do life with, and in the play of my life I have the most unique and the best characters anyone could have wanted. My friends are the best people on the planet.

I love meeting people and engaging in relationships. It is truly something that I love to do. Something that I find myself reflecting on a lot lately is my concept of friendship when I was growing up and my concept of friendship as an adult. This might come as a shocker to some, but I am a loud mouth extrovert that could easily become friends with everyone in the room. As a child that is what I did, I loved meeting and making new friends. I wanted to be friends with everyone in the room, and I naturally thought that everyone was extroverted and wanted to be friends with me just like how I wanted to friends with them. Another shocker for you all, I got in trouble a lot in school for talking to much while trying to meet all of these people. What is so interesting, of all of those friendships that I made during my childhood and teenage years, I'm only friends now with a handful. This is something that noticed a lot with my middle school students, and I find myself wondering if some of those kids will still be friends when they are twenty six. Another thing that is striking about how I viewed friendship as a child and teenager, I thought everyone wanted to be my friend. Nope that wasn't the case. You see there are some people, unlike myself, are not extroverts, but are introverts. Nine times out of ten, an introverted child doesn't really want to be around a loud month and bossy extrovert. Please try to not be appalled by the fact that I was a bossy child. Okay I'm still a little bossy. Okay fine, for the love I'm a lot bossy. I didn't understand why some of these kids didn't want to be my friend. Frankly I thought it was them, not me. It is a good thing that I grew up.

As an adult my view and vision of friendship is so vastly different. I'm still a loud mouth, semi-bossy, in your face extrovert, but I found that I need quality friends not quantity friendships.I also needed a mixture of extroverts and introverts in my life. Let me tell you, I have the best quality of people in my life. The best. I love them. I can't even begin to think about my life without them. By the way, adult friendships are not six people sitting in a coffeehouse all the time. Because you know that whole having a job thing gets in the way sometimes. Oh and that having no money to buy things gets in the way sometimes.

My college friends are some of the best people that I know and love. You will be friends with these people for life. I was with them everyday and almost every hour. We studied, worked, and lived together. Many times we walked through fire together. After graduation, I am still close to these people. It is different however. We are in different cities and doing different things. Some of us are married and have babies, and some of us are still single. While we might not be living close, I know that if I ever have an issue, I could pick up the phone and they will be there. Any moment that any of us have a need we are there. I once heard that if you are friends with someone for seven years, you are friends for life, and I am so glad that I have known these amazing people for seven years.

Being out of college and in a professional career, I found that it was harder to make friends. I was looking for people that I would build me up and would want to have lots of fun. And you know what it was hard. Finding people that I could trust and would enjoy spending time with was hard. In many situations I found myself walking into existing friendship groups and both myself and the others in the groups needed to see if I would be the right fit. In the four years that I have been out of college, working at Sequoyah and attending different churches and serving in different churches, I have found an amazing group of people. Some friendships have taken me by surprised. I never thought that I would be friends with certain people. My life would be incomplete without them. I trust these people with my life. We have numerous shared life experiences and we all needed a person to talk about those things and work through different happenings in our lives. I love that. I'm so thankful for that. Community and relationships are key to surviving through life. For me, I work with some of these people. I couldn't make it through the day sometimes with having time to talk with my friends. They make me a better person.

I'm overwhelmed by how good God is, God did not design us to simply spend our lives alone, but designed us to love and spend time with others. Find those people, find those friends that make you laugh, you enjoy spending time with, that build you up and make you a better person. Because you will do the same for them.

To the Class of 2019

It is hard to believe that in just a few days the 2014-2015 school year will be over. While I'm so excited about summer break and having some much needed down time, the end of the year sucks at the same time. Saying good bye to eighth grade students gets harder and harder each year. This class of students is no exception.

This class of students have such a big part of my heart. While they are not the first group of students that I have had for all three years, they are the first group of students that I truly felt like I knew what I was doing. They got the best of me. I had found what worked best in my teaching, and that confidence transferred over to them.

These kids are amazing!!! They are sweet, kind, caring, funny, smart, compassionate, and intelligent individuals. Not a day has gone by that I haven't laughed at something that they said or did. From our first performances together in the Broken Arrow Sixth Grade Musical performing Joseph and the Amazing Techincolor Dreamcoat to our performance in Branson just a few weeks ago, their growth as musicians and people is amazing. I'm so proud of them. I wouldn't change a thing. They drew silly pictures of SpongeBob on bananas they weren't supposed to take out of the cafeteria, they made up dances and raps just for my birthday, they created hand puppets for each warm up, and they worked so hard each and everyday.

So to the Class of 2019,

I have loved every minute. You are a big piece of my heart, and I will never stop calling you my kid. I hope that you will look back on your time as a member of Sequoyah Middle School Vocal Music, with pride. Ladies you were the first group of girls to get Superior at OSSAA contest in a long time. Boys, you laid the foundation for building a successful Men's choirs. You have been building the foundation for a successful Vocal Music program, and you have done a great job. I'm so proud of you. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for giving me your best. You are leaders. You are game changers. Go out boldly and brilliantly and change the world. Don't stop singing, there is always a song, and people need to hear what you have to say.Come back and see me and give me a hug. You are so loved. Dr. Seuss said it best, "You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so...Get on your way!"

Make me proud,
Miss Loyd

                              Source: Pinterest

So Vonna Stout and Justin Rosser, they are your kids now. Love them, care for them, and make them better. Remind them a lot that I will be checking on them, but it is time for them grow. You will love these kids.

There will never be a group of kids quite like this bunch and I couldn't be more proud of them!

Year One

There are only three more days of school. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! Bless it all. As I am wrapping up my fourth year of teaching, I find myself remembering all of the crazy things that occurred during my first year of teaching.

I DIDN'T KNOW A THING. I am a graduate of one of the best teacher education programs in the country. I know that I had all of the training and education needed, but holy smokes. I had no clue what I doing. Not just with the teaching thing...but the whole being an a real adult thing. I had to find an apartment, I had to pay off student loans, I had to get insurance, I had to make new friends, I had to learn how to live in large city. It was crazy. I still have issues with some of these things....hello student loans.

My saving grace, besides Jesus, I was the fifth choir teacher in five years at my school. Choir had been a revolving door of teachers, inconsistencies, and low expectations. So really, anything that I did would have been better than what was there before.! Choir at Sequoyah was dying, and my principal, Cindy Williamson and Fine Arts director at the time, Mark Frie were crazy enough to put a "kid" in the classroom. Oh man, it was a roller coaster. But one of the best ones I have ever been on.

There were scary moments. Oh man, there were scary moments. Like when two sisters decide to get into a fist fight before class. Or when you ask the question how many beats are in a quarter note and you hear the answers 25, 7, and IDK my BFF Jill. When you have your first concert and you have to cut a song five minutes before the doors open. When a storm knocks out your power and you wake up at 7;20 and you have to be at school at 7:30. When you have a student that likes you but hates music so that kid goes and hangs out at the donut shop down the street. When you go to OSSAA contest for the first time. When you have kids audition for All State for the first time. When you go on your first amusement park field trip (remember me and all of my bus trip luck). When you have to make that first parent phone call to assign a detention.

But even with the scary moments there are some brilliantly awesome ones. Like when you take a choir to OSSAA contest and they get a superior for the first time in six years. Or when you finally get kids to understand that a quarter note receives one beat not twenty five. Or when you find out that your numbers for your classes double.

And with any teaching experience there is always something hilarious. Like when you are in a car wreak totaling your car and you have to drive your grandma's Crown Victoria and students bring you tire rims for your Crown Victoria. And when I bring, I mean lift them off of their older brother's car. If students stealing tire rims for your Crown Victoria isn't love, I don't know what is. Or when you have to walk backwards conducting in five inch heels, and that was just on your first concert. When an eighth grader walks up to and says "Miss Loyd I need to tacos to you. Haha I made a Mexican food joke." Or when your bus misses the exit on the highway and proceeds to back up on the highway. Then because the bus has been in reverse for so long the bus shuts down.

I laughed a lot. I cried a lot. I banged my head against my desk a lot. But I wouldn't change a thing. So to all of those first year teachers that are wrapping up that crazy and emotional first year. Don't stop! The next year is better, and then the year after that and year after that. I'm not saying that it will sunshine and ponies everyday, but you will know you better. You will know your teaching better and you will be better prepared. Don't give up the fight. You are a rock star and you can do this! For those crazy college kids about to embark on the first year. Find a mentor, get a buddy teacher to help you out, they will be such a huge resource to you and they will become one of your close friends. Get to know your administrators, they are there for you! Never be scared to go to them when you are overwhelmed and need that extra help. Keep a journal. Read it on the last day of school and look at how far you have come. Remember that you will only be a first year teacher once. And praise Jesus that is the case!

Pink Loyd

Sometimes really cool projects just come your way and you can't say no.

One of our amazing teachers at Sequoyah, Lisa Everley, is an amazing musician and she herself is in a pretty cool band. She decided to use our enrichment time this past semester to do a garage band. This has been her project all semester, she brought together students to start a band. Some of these boys only just picked up guitars and drumsticks, they came together and created something awesome. They had a drummer, bass guitar, electric guitar, and lead guitar and all they were missing was lead vocals. So the awesome Mrs. Everley asked me to join in. So I, the classically trained soprano, learned some Nirvana and sang "Come As You Are." Because I know when you think of Nirvana, I'm what pops into your mind.

When discussing the name for this band, we had many names, but the play on of my name and Pink Floyd resulted in Pink Loyd. For the Love, precious.

Music has just always been in my life. I bookmark so many of my life experiences based on my musical experiences. This was a musical experience I will never be able to forget. Not because I sounded amazing, because I had some struggles, but because music brought together a group of students. Music made them successful. Music gave them a purpose. Music gave them a reason to be excited about school.

It took about everything I had not to lose it then and there when the entire student body gave them a standing ovation and cheered them on. It was a moment they will never forget. It was a moment that I will never forget. I just love these kids. I just love music. I just love music education. For the Love, someone pass the tissue!!!

This is what I can tell you, no amount of OCCTs, EOIs, RTIs, SLOs, OAMs,  VAMs, or other educational acronyms you can think of can ever begin to describe the amount of success those boys had today. We have big talk an education about hands on project based learning, and this was as hands on as it gets. Lisa Everley you are a freaking rock start educator. You have created memories and I'm calling it now career paths for these boys. Working with you is awesome and I'm proud to call you my colleague. If you needed a reason for why music programs are important to public schools, I will point you in the direction of Pink Loyd.

Pink Loyd, I love you. Thanks for letting me jam with you. Don't stop. Don't stop learning your craft and making yourselves better. Please remember, Mrs. Everley, Miss Loyd, and Sequoyah Middle School when you are accepting your Grammy for best Rock Album. Rock on, Pink Loyd, rock on!

Put Some Clothes On, You Are Disrupting the Educational Process

You have heard me say it nine million times that I love my job, and it is true! I love my job, I have wanted to be a teacher since the first day of kindergarten. It is what I was meant to do, but as with any other job out there, I have parts of my job that I don't love so much. The one that I keeps coming up a lot in the news and in social media is dress code. I hate dress code, doubly hate, loathe it entirely (thanks Dr. Seuss)! There are just so many ways that we have taken a black and white issue and turned it into a level with so many grays. You can wear this, but make sure it meets this, this, and this standard.

Please know, that just because I hate dealing with dress code issues, by no means do I not enforce it. This is something that my administration, whose authority and leadership I trust, has charged me to do. What I don't like about dress code, is how it has become an "us against them issue." What I don't like about dress code, is they are bigger fish to fry. We have kids that have fallen through the cracks and are middle school and can't read. We have students whose behavior keeps them from learning. We have students that come to school hungry. We have students that come to school dealing with unbelievable amounts of pain. Compared to all of that dress code, just seems so small. It has become an almost daily thing that I will get on Facebook and Twitter and find friends that have shared or tweeted articles regarding dress code. They all say the same thing. Schools are crazy, we discriminate against girls, have made excuses for boys, and we are just out of touch with reality. THIS MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL! We are charged with educating and making students better people. If this means we tell them to change their clothes because they broke the rules, does not make us out of touch. This means that we are preparing children for the work force, because if they are out of dress code they can be fired, or in some industries cause harm to themselves and others.

One of the most recent dress code debates I found on BuzzFeed that involved a girl from a New Brunswick, Canada high school. Here is the article. http://www.buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/canadian-teen-dress-code-rebuttal#.wcgxMk3mm

I know...really MegLo, BuzzFeed as a news source but this thing was all over social media.

So here are my issues. She could have simply put on a sweater. I have researched and researched for the perspective of the administrator in question, but I have found nothing. What I believe that truly happened was the girl was given the detention because she failed to comply with directions. In a perfect world, all of our students would do what we ask of them to do the first time, but we do not live in a perfect world. If you are an educator and your students listen to you the first time, you win the best teacher ever award. If she refused to follow directions after being told by a teacher and then an administrator, then yes disciplinary action is needed.

So the questions that we need to ask- are we purposely discriminating against girls? Are we placing unfair standards against girls? Are we using the idea that boys can't control themselves as a crutch?

I do not believe that we are purposely discriminating against girls, but there are more dress code rules for girls simply because their are more clothing options for girls. I also do not believe that we have placed unfair standards on girls. Girls and society have placed those standards on themselves. Have you been to a department store? Look at what is popular for girls to wear, If wore something like that to work, children would be screaming "my eyes, they burn!" However this is not an excuse, their are man inexpensive ways to make dress code violating outfits within dress code. For the love, just put on a sweater. I have never heard one of my administrators say that girls and their dress code issues are causing boy to not be able to control themselves. Hello!!! I teach middle school. Someone please bring to me a middle school boy that is great at self-control, because I don't think that they exist! Under this young lady's argument, boys should be sent home. There would be no boys at school.

There are many battles that educators are facing. But is dress code a hill that we want to die on? For the love, I can tell you this educator does not want to die on that hill. In my ideal world, no one can wear shorts to school, boys and girls, Everyone wears pants! Also all tank tops come with a cute little matching sweater just in case. Boys will keep their pants up, and no one would wear beer shirts. Do I have all the answers, nope. Not in the slightest. I have no clue what to do or how to move forward. There are people way smarter than myself that I can tell you where to go from here, ahem Ashley Bowser.

I tell my students that when I have to send you to the office for a dress code check, you are out of my classroom and missing instruction. You are missing chances to learn really cool music and chances to become a better singer and person. So for the love, put some clothes on, you are disrupting the educational process.

Dear College Senior Me

It is hard to believe but four years ago this week I graduated from college. As of today I have been out of college for the same about of time that I was in college. Craziness!!!! Some of the best moments of my life were spent at Oklahoma Baptist University. Those hours spent in the Raley basement, Ford Music Hall, the Mabee Learning Center, and GC made me who I am today. But I do remember that day I was so ready to get out of there and be done with school!! But I didn't really fully enjoy some of that moment and that day because I kept thinking of other stuff....gosh MegLo get it together.

So today I'm presently writing a letter to past me, from future me....I think. I've never been really good with wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.

Dear Meghan,

Today you are graduating from Oklahoma Baptist University, I'm sure you never thought that this day would ever happen, but it is here! There are a lot of things swarming in your head, but you know what it will be okay. Just enjoy this moment, don't think to much about it, and wear the flats not the heels. Because when it is time for you to go on stage and sing with the graduation choir, you are going to trip and fall. Your parents should have named you Grace.

However because I know you, well because I am you, I know that no matter what you will still be freaking out about stuff.

Our job-you won't be unemployed. In fact that job that you interviewed for a month ago that you haven't heard back from, that you are absolutely sure you didn't get. Well you did. And it has changed your life forever. You think that nothing could get better than your time in college, but it just keeps getting better. This job will change your life. You will make some of the most amazing friends. You will work with some of the most talented educators around. You will have some of the most amazing students on the planet. You will have successes and failures, good days and bad days. but it will be the most rewarding experience of your life.

Our friendships-Yes you, Sarah, Courtney, and Melissa are still friends. In fact your friendships are stronger than ever. You are spread out across the country, but you will drop everything for them. They support you, they share in your struggles, and celebrate in your successes. You will celebrate weddings, a baby, new jobs, and everything in between. You will cover each other in prayer everyday. They are some of the most important people in your life.

Our relationship-For the Love, you are still single. AND IT IS FREAKING AWESOME!!!! So what you didn't find the love of your life at OBU. It is okay. You will be okay. You will have some much fun. You will have some tears. You will have what in the world moments, I'm going to die alone moments. But it is all okay. And what Dr. Reeder said won't be true. You won't have triplets in five years. (Love you Dr. Redder).

Enjoy this day, but For the Love please wear the flats!!!!

xoxo future MegLo (yes you still love being called MegLo).

Excusing me as I sit in the corner and cry.

For those of you that guided me to graduation day thank you. To my parents for supporting me along the way, you are amazing. To all of my professors you have made me the educator that I am today. You are the most amazing people in the history of the world. Thresa Swadley thank your letting me be the Choral Contest Goddess, it prepared me for my job more than you can ever know! Monica Mullins thank you for the countless hours of coffee chats. Thank you for not letting me quit, for encouraging me, and expanding my love of coffee and cats! As you have said thanks be to God that our paths crossed. Dr. Lilite, thanks for picking the best songs for me to learn and for encouraging me to find new ways to use my voice. Dr. Gerber thanks for making a teacher. Dr. Vernon thanks for letting me conduct Bisonettes and for still being a part of my students' lives. They love you more than they love me! Dr. Todd, I wish more than anything that I could grab coffee with you, talk about life with you, and Call the Hogs in front of you when Arkansas beats Kentucky. You changed my life. You changed so many lives. Thank you for the impact you left on mine. I remembered on graduation you hugged me and told me to go forward brilliantly. I hope that I have made you proud.

Memaw having you there that day was the best. I love you and miss you each passing day.

Sarah, Courtney, and Melissa. I love you ladies and I'm so grateful for our friendships!!! Love ya!!!!

My four years at OBU were some of the best, but oh man...these past four years. I wouldn't change it for the world!!! God Bless OBU.

Mamas!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all those mothers out there!!! I hope you had a great day where you didn't have to do a thing!!

There are just so many different types of mothers out there, but at the end of the day it is about women that love there kids and they love well. So why don't we just stop labeling each other and support one another!

I have been blessed by not only my own mother, but by spiritual mothers to poured into my relationship with the Lord. These ladies have loved me and challenged me to big leaps of faiths. I have been blessed by work mothers that challenge and support my teaching. To my village of "moms" thank you for helping me along my journey.


I will say that I had a "village" of mamas that made me the woman I am today. Of course none of this incredibly awesome life that I have wouldn't have been possible without my mama, Janet Loyd. The woman is pretty awesome, she did give birth to a legend. We laugh, we fight, we cry. We share a love of coffee, napping, cats and TV binge watching. In all seriousness, she was the first person that ever believed in me. She put up with a little girl that never shut up (shocking I know), and never stops encouraging me to dream big dreams. She fiecrcly loves her kids, and does whatever it takes to help her kids achieve success. You da best JLo.

Side note....I'm a fur baby mama. I will forgive you Stardust for forgetting Mother's Day again. It's okay you can try again next year.

Who Run the World? Teachers!

For all my teacher friends out there, we are almost there and happy teacher appreciation week!! I'm so glad that teacher appreciation week falls when it does because we need this pick up! Hello...state testing. Plus our kids know it is summer, they are ready. If they weren't squirmy wormy to begin with, they sure are now!

For almost all of my life, I have wanted to be a teacher.I would come home and line up my stuffed animals on my bed and teach them what I had learned at school that day. It wasn't until I was in high school that I realized that I want to be a music teacher, and then in college I fully realized that I wanted to be a middle school choir teacher. I have been teaching for four years now, and even though I have not done this a very long this is by the far the best and hardest thing that I have ever done. We are living in a time were everything that a teacher does is under the world's largest microscope. We are faced with polices and procedures that may very well change within the first five minutes of the announcement of the new procedure. The enormous weight that we have to carrying can be both unbearable and very under appreciated. Each kid is different, and because each kid is different what works for one won't work for the other. We are pulled in nine million directions each and everyday, but what is the most important thing is are we doing what will be the best for kids? And you know what, doing what is best for kids is hard sometimes. Really hard. Sometimes it means waking up at 2 in the morning to take kids to Branson for a day they would never forget. Sometimes it is spending your own money to buy uniforms for students that can't afford it. Sometimes it means not moving on in a section of music because your kids don't get it, even though you don't have time do it. Sometimes it means laying in your bed at night in tears over the kid that you just so desperately what to reach, but you know that it isn't going to happen. 

Each day in teaching is a new and different journey. I'm so thankful for the host of educators that have been involved in my journey. So for the teachers at Euper Lane Elementary, Southside Elementary, Cook Elementary, Ballman Elementary, Ramsey Junior High, Southside High School, and Oklahoma Baptist University that poured into me thank you. For my elementary, middle school, and high school music teachers, thank you for showing me your love of music and lighting the fire in me. For my college professors and advisers, there are no words for how thankful I am for you. Thank you for teaching me how to be a teacher. Thank you making sure I never gave up, for loving me when it was hard, and for making me a better person. For the educators at Sequoyah Middle School, thank you for inspiring me daily. The things you do in your classrooms for our students is amazing! You are all fabulous people and I love our educator family. For all the music teachers that I work with in my area and across the state of Oklahoma, you are all the best! Oklahoma is blessed to have music educators like you!!

TLEs, OAMs, SOOs, SLOs, VAMs and any other three letter acronyms will never determine the amount of goodness that we do everyday, Those letters will never define you as a teacher, they will never show the impact that you leave on kids everyday. An increasingly out of touch state legislature will never be able to understand how wonderful each and everyone of you are! You inspire me, you make me better. 

Teaching is hard. But oh man it is just so good. So teachers don't ever forget how awesome you are, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That light is the sun. The sun is over a pool. And there is frozen lemonade and Josh's Sno Cones!!

What.Is.Happening. The Final Chapter

Here we go again...over the past three weeks I have traveled in school buses full of children to Oklahoma City, Dallas, and Branson. If you haven't already been questioning my sanity at this point, I would like to ask you why the heck not?  I thought that Frontier City was the craziest set of happenings to ever happen on a field trip, but clearly I was wrong. Let's set the stage shall we?

Yesterday I took 52 Seventh and Eighth Graders, 11 Adult Volunteers, 2 Bus Drivers, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree to Silver Dollar City. All on one day. See...questionable sanity. We had to leave at 3 o'clock in the morning. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a morning person. The whole early to rise part makes it really difficult for me to be the Proverbs 31 woman I always imagined myself to become. I arrived at the school at 2:31 in the morning. Vomit. As I was getting everything out of my car that I would needing for the day, one of my eighth grade boys was laying on the sidewalk sound asleep. Weird. By the way...eighth grade students get on a bus an fall asleep at 3:00 am, seventh graders do not. They talk all the time. Literally. Thank goodness I wasn't on the seventh grade bus. Shout out goes to Lisa Harris for being on that Seventh Grade bus. What a trooper.

When I woke up at 1:45 so I could get to the school, I made the decision to go with no make up on and put it on while on the bus. Bad idea. One of the love/hate things that I have with teaching middle school is their filters, or lack there of. This was one of those moments. I put my make up on and one sweet angel of a darling says, "Miss Loyd you are pretty again." Thanks kid, love you too.

Well the main reason why we went to Branson was to compete at the Heartland Music Festival. And it was awesome. For the love they were amazing. For only having a few hours of sleep, they rocked it! They sounded fabulous, on pitch, accurate rhythms. amazing stage presence, and everything you could ever want in a performance. Did I mention that we had a concert the night before. Yeah...they were already tired. Despite all of that, they got a superior!!! Won Outstanding Achievement, one student got an Outstanding Musician, award and my boy's section got Outstanding Section. It was a great experience of them and I'm so happy that we all shared in that success. It was worth getting up that early!!!

Now that the business side of stuff was done it was time to have some fun!!! Now remember this is a bus trip that I am involved in so naturally we get lost. My bus driver took a wrong turn out of the theater that we were competing at we found ourselves heading the opposite direction. We drove over Table Rock Dam. If you think that middle school children could drive over a dam and not say anything, you would be wrong. The choruses of "Daaaaaaaaaaam" that were being yelled was hilarious. We ended up at the Showboat Branson Belle and we had to turn around and then we went over the dam again. So yes, they started yelling "Daaaaaaaaam" again. I may or may not have joined in on that the second time, so I don't know what that says about me. In addition to that we also got a concert full of Justin Bieber, One Direction, Miley Cyrus, Wham, Journey, Stix, and Kayne. Totes Hilar(yes I talk like a middle school kid, don't judge).

We get to the park and stayed till it closed. So we happened to be in the park for NINE HOURS. They got to ride all the rides they wanted to ride and some of them multiple times. We had some pretty "What.Is.Happening" moments in the park. Example, one of my seventh grade boys got some pretty bad motion sickness on the tea cup ride, the male volunteer in his group decided to take him to the nurse station so he could lay down and get some water. So here is the funny part, Mr. Volunteer Man took him to a nursing station, not the nurse's station. So they walked in on a bunch of women breastfeeding. So there is an image that a seventh grade boy will never get out of his head. We took care of him and by the end of the day, he rode more rides, pigged out on pizza, and had some Dippin Dots. I love theme parks and I love to ride rides but when I'm working trips like this it is hard to have fun. But I had a blast. I rode Fire in the Hole, because it is my favorite. Something that raises you 80 feet in the air, and then drops you. Holy Smokes Batman. And a water ride. FYI when you ride a water ride with seventh grade girls they will do whatever they can to make sure that you get soaked. I was drenched. My jeans dried out, but shirt never did so I had to buy a new one. Insert your wet t-shirt comments here. I stayed so calm during the day and I never really stressed out about anything...until it was time to leave the park. Talk about chaos. Thousands of people all trying to leave at the same time and me trying to make sure that all of my students were out of the park and on the bus. Madness. We finally get them on the bus on our way home. We feed them McDonald's. Get them back on the bus and they fall asleep. By the way, when middle school children have been a theme park for nine hours and riding water rides they smell. I mean they have a really smell bad. Terrible. Awful. Gross. You get the picture. The best way to describe the smell of that bus is feet and butt. It smelled like feet and butt. Note to self, bring Febreeze next time. We finally get home around 11:45 and I leave at midnight waiting for kids to get picked up. For the Love.

So yes, there were some crazy happenings yesterday, but yesterday will go down as one of the best day of my teaching career. To see so many of my students have a blast that they other wise wouldn't have made my heart happy. I heard "this is the best day ever" over and over again. To be able to make it possible for students to have their first trip to Silver Dollar City was priceless. Now I am so proud of my students performance earlier in the day, but something happened that was even better than that. A random stranger who has never heard of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma comes up to me and tells that of all of the other schools that she ran into, my students were the most polite and niceness group of teenagers that she has ever met. She also told me that she normally hates teenagers. I call that a success and win.