I've Got Sunshine

It has been raining for days and even when the rain stops the sky still looks like this.

I know it is Seattle and we are supposed to be waterproof but in the hallways students are dragging their feet, they are limp in their chairs, they are falling over from the routine. Ok maybe it's just my first period!

So today I invited the Sun back into our classroom.

Literally I brought the sun, tied her down so her glittery face would hang above us all.

On each student's desk I placed one single piece of Dot candy, in lip smacking tropical flavors like pineapple, mango and papaya.

"If the sun cannot come to you then you must bring the sun.... We need some energy in this place again my friends. So whose birthday is coming up next? D get on up here!"

With my son's pitiful ukuele in hand I hopped up on a desk and led the class in singing my version of "Happy Birthday." This includes belting it out punk style and ending every verse with the phrase"cha cha cha" while you shake your hips.

I was a little hesitant to do this with my first period they are the shyest most self concious group of middle schoolers you will ever meet. I am always challenging them to loosen up and to stop looking over their shoulders all the time.

At first I was the only one singing to D.

"Come on people I know you have better voices than I do. What about if we rapped it?"

S0 we sang it rap style "yo happy birthday to you D-unit"

We sang it country style "yee haaaa you little birthday cowboy."

We sang it in Spanish too.

By the end of it all every kid was smiling, every kid laughing, nobody seemed to care if we were making fools of ourselves or not.

I ended the class with this proposal...

"Your challenge today my friends if you so choose to accept it is to spread a little sunshine all over this place. Break it up mis amigos give somebody a reason to laugh today. I wanna feel the warmth of your energy in these halls. And report back to me..."