Half Bell Schedule

(Student names have been changed.)

October 28th, 2011.

            There are twenty seven inner-city seventh grade students; a multicultural combination of beautiful colors and faces sitting behind a collection of reject desks in the back end of their middle school.  Sharing fifteen tattered and torn orange music books relatively evenly distributed across the classroom, they are itching to express themselves.

           Belting "Little shop, little shop of horrors...." in anticipation of the Halloween holiday. Their first reaction being, "Miz, what is this music?" shortly followed by, "Ah, nah, aint gun' happen," quickly followed by, "Miz you like this?" eventually followed by, "Well..." By the end of the fifty minute period everyone was on board. So on board, in fact, that I had a difficult time getting them ready to leave for end of the day dismissal.

           "Quickly, I know this is fun, but we have to wrap it up. Books on the shelf, line up, girls first, go." Desks and chairs scratching, bustling movement of backpacks, scarves, jackets and seventh graders. 

           Shamiyah rushes to the front of the line flashing a brilliant smile, "Miz, now you got me singing."

           I laughed, "good!" 

           She looks at the wall next to the door, "half bell schedule, what's that?"

           "It's the bell schedule for a half day," I half-answered while I called the boys to line up and get ready for the stairs.

           "Half bell? OOOOh like half day. I got'chu, Miz, I got'chu," She bops her head like there's a song playing inside. Suddenly the sound emerges, "Half bell schedule....Eight twenty teachers arrive..." in that instant the half bell schedule became the next big number in our musical called "Life." "Miz, all this musical Broadway stuff, the theater stuff, it's got me singing."

            "Girl you can't even sing, don't even try," another student chimes in, "Eight thirty, first bell is ruuuuuuu-uh-uuuuuuung," she sings adding riffs and fluff. "Dats how you dooo it."

            The two girls take turns singing through the entire bell schedule and at the end together they sing "Twelve oh nine....school...is...deMISSSSSSSED..." finishing on, what I would only assume, was their highest possible note. Stunned, they turned to each other, "What...did you...that was...we just...the same. Shoot that was hot. We all hype now Miz, that junk be drawlin." Amazed that their voices unified at the finale of their truly entertaining and intertwining musical monologues; I thought to myself, "This is why I teach inner-city. Personality."