Dress Up as a Word

 Cade as Leif Ericson

 Charlotte as Ruby Bridges

Kyle as Martin Luther King, Jr.

 Asia as Peru

When the clock strikes 8:45 and the morning bell sounds, 2B is really always abuzz. On Dress Up as a Word Day on March 22, though, it was especially lively. Students hurried around, ensuring their costumes were just so, fastening words and definitions to their fronts, scribbling definitions in a frenzy of energy. It was quite fun.  We had everybody in our room--from "ones" (the ones place in a number), to Vikings, to liquid, to fruit, to Beta fish. 

Months ago, I stayed late one night fashioning the most impractical costume ever. The students in 2B know my words of choice are "hope" and "kindness." So for this occasion, I chose to be "hope," the desire and expectation for something to happen. What I ended up with was a laminated suit of second grade pictures and hopes dangling on strings. Students got a real kick out of seeing me maneuvering around the room, holding up my laminated legs, with little yarn hopes flying around me (and who knew wearing laminated paper could be so HOT!?). The point is, I think of my hopes for this group of young people every day. I think of my hope for them to love school, to make the world a better place, to smile 100 times a day, to notice the small beautiful things in life, to accept others' differences. And this was just another chance I couldn't pass up to tell them about it. It weighs on my mind every day, and they should know. 

And they do know, for our room is filled with hope.