Let's go. mister...you're moving at "turtle-speed" OR Take-your-favorite-reptile-to-gym-day OR You think I'M slow!

I admit to feeling annoyed when I am confronted by the fact that I don't always have the world's weirdest kids in my classroom. Occasionally, another student will pop up who, for a brief moment, makes my kids appear almost normal.

So, I was chatting in the hallway with my friend, Geri as we watched our students preparing to depart for gym. One of her little cherubs came bustling out, wrestling a large plastic container of turtles out the door. "Wait...where do you think you're going," Geri asked as I settled in to watch the show. He looked at her as though she'd completely lost her mind. "I'm going to gym," he said slowly. The "duh" was implied. "I know that," she responded impatiently, "but where are you taking the turtles?" He sighed. "To gym," he repeated in the same slow manner to allow ample time for his words to sink into his teacher's obviously addled brain. I glanced around quick to see if there was a popcorn machine nearby because it looked as though this program might run over a bit. There was an interlude filled with dramatic gestures, raw emotion, and finally...the introduction of another pivotal character:  The Gym Coach who, upon being appraised of the situation, nodded nonchalantly as though to say The more the merrier and off the turtles went to gym. I snapped a picture afterwards. You'll notice our one little guy was so inspired that he continued running laps even after gym was over. Sometimes all it takes is a  little physical exercise to coax you out of your shell.