call me miss ence.

so, it's official.  i'm a teacher now.  a real live, legitimate, teacher of the cutest first grade class in the history of the world.  i'm totally biased and don't care one bit.  these little ones melt my heart everyday!  i am happier than i have been in a long time, and i know it's because i'm doing exactly what i want to be doing, and what i know i should be doing, and what i've been preparing to do for years.  i go to school everyday and it never feels like work.  i just get to hang out with 25 darling 6-year olds everyday, could it get much better than that?  

i love the unconditional love from 6 year olds.  they have no qualms about opening up and letting you into their lives from day one.  i love the sticky hands that find their way into mine when we're walking in the hall.  i love the knee hugs all day.  i love when they call me "miss excellence".  i love when they laugh.  today was a day when we all laughed a lot.  i love that they think my silliness is the coolest thing in the world.  sometimes i think to myself, "if people saw me in here, i would have no social life..." but i don't really care because hearing kids laugh while they're learning is one of the greatest sounds you can hear.  i love reading to them and watching their eyes get big when flat stanley gets stuck in the tree, or when we found out the absent author wallis wallace was tied up in the hotel room!  i love hearing their stories and watching 13 other hands go up with one-uppers, or stories that really aren't related at all.  i love watching them bring things in the mystery bag and sharing treasures from home.  i love their inventive spelling.  i love their creative pictures and stories.  i love their critical thinking.  i love when they take a smile from my smile bin and hand it to friends that are feeling sad.  i love when they encourage each other and leave turkey talk out in the hall.  i love when they remember their jobs without being asked.  i love that they already have the morning routine down, after 14 days in school.  i love that they bravely performed "zip a dee doo dah" and our class pledge in the opening assembly, just 9 days into school.  i love that they love me, and i love that i love them.  i miss them when i'm not at school,

and hey, that's a really good sign.