I have to confess, I was unsqueakably nervous when I first entered the room. I mean have you looked at it? It’s an actual jungle in there with vines hanging on all the walls, elephants, lions, monkeys, zebras, and lots more animals, even a huge (gasp) dog by the name of Scooby Doo. Well, okay, they are stuffed animals, but little did I know what fun and learning I was in for.
Anyway, no one was there when I was first put on Mrs. Carnevale’s desk. I looked around and saw all the wild animals, and the jungle room. I was a little scared that the cheetah up above the teacher’s desk might jump down and eat me. I decided to hop on my wheel to calm myself down, and hope the class would be back soon. No sooner had I hopped on and started running when I heard a voice says to me, “Don’t worry Humphrey, it’s okay. All of the animals here are friendly, and no one will hurt you.” I looked up to find that Mr. Monkey had swung over on a vine (they only do that when there are no humans in the room), and was standing next to the cheetah talking to me. He made a big leap and the next thing I knew he was standing at my cage. I hopped off my wheel and we had a lovely conversation about all of the fun the animals have when the humans are gone, and learning that goes on in the room, which immediately calmed me down. I do love to have fun, and I do love to learn. While Mr. Monkey swung his way back to his spot, I closed my eyes for a little nap.
The next thing I knew the lights came on and the class came in the room. I quickly learned that these weren’t just students, they were Safari Scholars, and they seriously love to learn. Even though it was snack time, some of the kids wanted to practice their spelling words. I wanted to study too, so I was really excited when Mrs. Carnevale let me move to the front table with Adriana, Lola, Amelia, and Faith. They were very patient about taking turns showing me their list of words, and then quizzing each other. I decided to give myself a practice quiz. I got a 95%, and was unspeakably proud of myself.
Right after snack it was time for math. As I listened to Mrs. Carnevale I found out we were going to be finding the area of irregular shapes. I was a little unsure of what that was about, but luckily I soon found my cage in the middle of the zebra table with Amelia, Emily, Mikey, Adriana, and Brianna. They sure are smart, and in no time at all I caught on to what they were doing since they showed me everything I needed to know. Since I’m nocturnal and this was the middle of the day. I started to nod off. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I just couldn’t.
When I opened my eyes the room was dark and quiet. As much as I wanted to open the door that doesn’t lock and go find my new friends, I just couldn’t totally wake up. I yawned, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
I finally woke up to the gentle rocking of my cage being carried. I found out I was going to get to sit with Penley during interactive read aloud. I was so excited by this! Penley is so kind and so gentle. I stared adoringly at her during the story. When it was over she leaned over to me and let me know how much she loved having me visit. I told her the pleasure was all mine, but of course it just sounded like a lot of squeaks to her.
During reading time I got to be with Thomas. I was thrilled by this because he picks out the same kind of books that I like to read! I sat up right next to him, reading over his shoulder. Thomas was so kind, checking to see if I had finished reading the page before he turned it. Boy, these kids sure have great stamina for reading a really long time. I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer, and nodded off for another nap.
“Don’t forget to put your chairs up,” called out Mrs. Carnevale as I woke up from my nap. I looked around to realize it was the end of the day and these fabulous kids were getting ready to go home. My cage was now up on the front table, and soon my new friends were crowding around me to say goodbye. I squeaked out a goodbye to each of them, and told them how happy I was to have met them today. The kids asked Mrs. Carnevale if she was taking me home for the night, but she reminded them that she couldn’t because she had a big dog and three cats at home. There was a quick discussion among the kids where I should sleep, and soon I found myself behind carried to this area of the room the kids called the hidey-hole. It was like a cave filled with lots of pillows and a cushy rug. I thought I might sneak out of the door that doesn’t lock, and sleep on those nice cushy pillows tonight.
Boy, was I ever in for a surprise once the school was locked up for the night. I was wide awake and getting in my work out on my wheel when Mr. Monkey swung by. I let myself out of my cage, and we stretched out on the hidey-hole pillows and had ourselves a nice chat. He’s a good friend. We then headed over to the rug area where Peanuts the elephant and Tony the tiger were hanging out. What a fun night I was having with my new friends. But, I was so tired from my day in the jungle that I finally had to head back to my cage to take a little nap.
The next thing I knew it was daylight and the custodian was opening up the school. Soon Mrs. Carnevale came into the classroom and got things set up for the kids. I was so excited to see that we were going to work on writing in cursive today. While Mrs. Carnevale was out on bus duty I quickly snuck out of my cage and made myself a little book to practice my cursive with my new friends. Of course I hid it behind my mirror.
I had a delightful morning with my new friends. I paid close attention to the lesson on cursive, and once the kids were at specials I pulled out my book and practiced my cursive writing. After snack time I got to spend a little time with Geno. He gently took me out of my cage and held me. I could have purred with happiness if I was a cat.
My morning went by all too quickly, and soon Mrs. Carnevale was telling my friends to say goodbye to me before they went to lunch. They were all so kind, and so sweet. I had to hold back a tear as I tried to tell them how much I would miss them all. I squeaked goodbye until the last person was out of the room. I curled up in my bed to nap and dream about the next part of my adventure at Toffolon.
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