I went to the movies with 50 kids!

At my school, we told the kids that anyone who finished all the topics in Study Island before the STAR Test would be able to go on a special reward field trip. I had five students accomplish this, and they were excited to be the only fourth graders in the group - all the rest were fifth graders.

We met at In-N-Out Burger first, where everyone had a burger, fries and a soda. Then we walked to the movie theater, which meant going across the parking lot, entering the mall, and walking all the way through the mall to the other end where the theater was located. I was the designated leader of the group. After instructing everyone to be on their best behavior, use quiet voices, walk, don't touch, etc., I opened the door and led fifty 10- and 11-year-olds into the shoe department of Macy's, and from there, through the perfume department. No one tried to spray any perfume on us, thank goodness. We emerged from Macy's into the mall, and my immediate thought was: "I need to keep this group of mostly boys away from the Victoria's Secret window!" I mentally tried to picture which side of the mall had the Vicky See's store, and since I hardly ever go to the mall, I kind of thought I had a 50/50 chance.

OK, good thing, I turned out to be right. We arrived at the movie theater and while we certainly attracted some looks, all in all everyone was pretty good. The next 20 minutes was spent herding the kids to the snack counter and into the theater. Everyone was given a bag of popcorn and a soda. How on earth anyone could be hungry after just wolfing down a burger and fries was beyond me. But what really got to me was all the kids who had money with them, and after getting their free popcorn and soda, bought boxes of candy as well! No wonder we have a childhood obesity problem in this country...

The movie was really pretty cute and it was only when the credits rolled that I realized who did the voices - Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, and Jackie Chan. It was fun to see the kids have such a good time. We'll do it again next year.