Jokes are funny!

April Fools' Day went well. I had two jokes per period - a real one and a distractor.

The distractor was a fake test (on the board: "You have 5 minutes to study for a test on everything we have learned to date this year. It will be worth 50% of your grade for the trimester.") which totally panicked blocks 1 & 2 until the kids I had enlisted to help with my REAL jokes were like, "Ha ha, April Fools?" To which I replied, yep, just a joke, gotcha! And we all chuckled and got down to business.

Then first block I had two co-conspirators. A few minutes into class, Drama King whispered to a neighbor that he was going to call Brilliant One as a prank on him and me. Brilliant One had (as planned) left his cell phone on and so it rang loudly, startling everyone. They'd both been acting obnoxious since they walked into my room (again, as planned) and I'd given them both two or three warnings. So when the phone rang, I acted like I'd had it. "That's IT," I said. "I'm done. Give it to me. It's going to the office."

"But, Miss," Brilliant One whined, "it's not my fault. I didn't do anything! And it was Drama King calling me! He should be the one in trouble, not me."

I whirled around in a masterful demonstration of rage. "Both of you, OUTSIDE. NOW."

They argued and I insisted; once outside, I kept yelling at them as I handed them previously prepared passes to the office, where they were going to wait for five minutes and then come back, and individual packets of eye drops (just saline) to use as fake tears.

We had one hiccup - right after I sent them and pretended to call, I turned around and my AP was in the doorway. "I was walking by and heard," she said. "Want to fill me in before I go deal with them?"

So we went out in the hall and I frantically whispered that this was a prank we were pulling and that they weren't actually in trouble, to which she chuckled and said she loved it. Apparently when she got to the office, she pranked them by shouting at them to get to her office right away....at which point, she then said that we were all really good actors and good job.

They came back a few minutes later, "tears" dripping. I asked if they were just back; they said no, that they'd be suspended for either three or five days, the office was just deciding. I said maybe next time they'd remember that there were consequences to actions. We went back out in the hall to congratulate ourselves and then came back in and shouted in unison, "April Fools'!"

Second block was simpler. After we got through the fake test hilarity, a kid asked me, "Ms. Teachin', was that you I saw on the news last night winning the lottery?"

I sighed exasperatedly. "Well, I wasn't going to tell you all yet...but since he brought it up, next Friday is going to be my last day."

Gasps of shock and a few "oh no!"s.

"Yeah. I won the lottery, and I'm going to travel around the world on a hot air balloon."

General cries of whats and reallys and why a hot air balloons and are you going to buy me somethings rang out.

I kept going for another minute until I couldn't keep a straight face anymore, at which point one of my girls said, "Wait.....April Fool?" And I laughed and 'fessed up.

I forgot to do my second prank third block (I was going to say they'd apparently been so bad at lunch yesterday that they weren't allowed to go to the lunchroom and were going to have eat in my room for a week, writing a daily essay about appropriate behavior in different parts of the school), but maybe I'll add it in tomorrow.....

I didn't get pranked much by kids - Brilliant One did tell me that Drama King was absent at first and my face fell, till he April Fools'ed me. And then one other thing that damn well better be a prank: Sweet Child o' Mine told me he was going to be a dad.

"Haha April Fools'," I said.

"No, really, Miss, I am."

"HA HA APRIL FOOLS'," I replied.

"Well, she's not sure yet, but she thinks she is," he amended.

"HAHAHAHAHA APRIL FOOLS'," I kept insisting.

He never admitted to the joke but his best friend did whisper to me that it was one, so I REALLY hope that's true. I did tell them, though, that if it is true, he needs to start reading to the baby right away because research shows it's the best way to get the kid started right. May as well push some of my reading philosophies when I can, right? All the boys in my room found that very interesting, so maybe they'll remember that for what better be way in the future.

Now I have to start planning for next year!

(Image credit to Mykl Roventine)