It's moments like these that make me LOVE my job!

We had planned a school trip to Costa Rica for spring break.  Originally, it was going to be my colleague MaryBeth Johnson and I as chaperones of the trip.  Unfortunately, as the trip neared it became obvious that for me to go on an 8 day trip right now would be extremely tough on my family.  (I have 3 small kids and the realities of 8 days away weighed in). I gave my place away to another colleague Mollie.  Although I missed the trip myself, I LOVED hearing the stories from the kids today when they got back.

We spent the better part of 3rd period listening to stories from Robert and Jason, two of my level 2 students that went on the trip.  Since we are currently reading Robo en la Noche, it was great for the class to get to hear all about the country, culture, the millions of translations of the phrase PURA VIDA, etc from their classmates instead of me.

The first "teacher high" that I had was this conversation:
Me: So, boys...did you find yourselves able to speak a lot of spanish?
Jason: Oh yeah!
Robert: OH MY GOSH!  We were speaking like fluent Spanish. (BTW They were not speaking fluent Spanish, but I absolutely LOVE that he thinks they were) ...It was SHOCKING!!! Like every time that I needed a word it was right here [points to forehead] I would pause and think I need to say this word...and then I realized OH I KNOW HOW TO SAY THAT!!!

Hearing this from them was better than any pat on the back I've ever received from a supervisor! 

It was SO awesome to hear the boys talking about all their adventures, describing the host mother's cooking, the adventures on the suspension bridge, the experience volunteering in the animal sanctuary, their newfound appreciation for paved roads :), etc.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I had probably the best 30 seconds of my entire teaching career...

The bell rang and as the students filtered out, I noticed Robert was kind of lingering as I arranged some things on my desk. Then he cleared his throat, shuffled his feet a little awkwardly, and spoke.

Robert: Um, Sra. Rivera, I felt bad that you didn't get to go because I know you were really looking forward to it.  So, I got you this...

He reached in his backpack and pulled out a bracelet that he bought at one of the markets in Costa Rica.  Here is my new favorite piece of jewelry EVER!  Seriously, I think I will treasure this bracelet for the rest of my life.