The Secret's Out

Fourth block English 9 was really fun today....and I don't say that very often. Not that they're a "bad" group of kids because I'm actually very thankful for them. They all get along (for the most part), there are no punk/jerk/mean/bully types that make us all miserable, and everyone seems to be trying to do their best...at least most days. But they are still 4th block freshmen, which means they are crazy, talkative, off-task, sometimes annoying teenagers who want nothing more than for my class to be over with.

Today was especially fun because a burning question was finally answered. At the beginning of class I noticed the second row whispering about something. "Joe" raised his hand. Joe is known for asking off-topic questions and making even little things into drama, so I always hold my breath a bit when I call on him.

"Remember at the beginning of the year when you said you wanted to have kids," he begins, "did you mean right away or not for a while."

"What?!?!" I reply, remembering that conversation and wondering how in the world it related to the embarrassing family moments that we had just journaled about and were now discussing.

"Well, do you and your husband want to have kids soon?"

Now I could see where this was going, so I decided to have a bit of fun, slightly at Joe's expense.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you know....." stutter, stutter, start to look awkward and slightly embarrassed in the way that only a squirrely freshman boy can.

"Why do you ask?" I move in for the kill.

Small pause. "Oh, uh, nothing, never mind." He tries to retreat.

"No seriously, why do you ask? Are you saying I look pregnant?" Pause just long enough for Joe to seriously consider that he may have just offended me and possibly should have kept his mouth shut...and then I couldn't let him squirm any longer, so I added, "...because I am."

Cheers, whoops, and hollers erupt around the room, along with "I told you so" and other comments. Apparently my recently apparent small baby bump has been the topic of several whispered classroom conversations this week.

"I thought so," another student pipes in. "We were talking about it yesterday but were too afraid to ask."

The best, though, were the two girls in the back of the room who I know "talk" during class by pushing a notebook back and forth between them. They know I see the notebook and sometimes I give them the evil eye, but they are good students, so I don't make a big deal about it. "We were just talking about it yesterday," one of the girls exclaims as she starts flipping through the notebook, trying to find the right page. The "conversation" note goes something like:

"and yeah, our teacher is pregnant!"

"I can't believe she's not saying anything"

"LOL, I know, it's so obvious, I don't know why she just doesn't admit it"

I must admit, I laughed out loud when I read it and asked if I could keep it for the baby book. They agreed, after ripping off the top part of the note which was about who-knows-what that I probably don't really want to know about.

After a few minutes of questions (when's it due, do you know if it's a boy or girl, I think you should name it....) I manage to get everyone back on task, or so I thought. After the 3:15 bell, three girls approach my desk. "We thought you'd like to see what we did in class," the quietest one says. She hands me a notebook with a list of each student's name and his/her guess at the birthday of the baby. "We passed it around during reading time." And here I thought we were all just silently reading our books like we should be. Man, I felt like an unobservant teacher...but at the same time it felt pretty good. Their excitement, chronicled in the note and list which now hold a place on the bulletin board by my desk, is contagious and was, hands down, the best part of my day.