4. Miss Porter Gets Real

4 Miss Porter Gets Real We had fun with Miss Porter all day on Monday. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I couldn't wait to go to school. "I can't wait to go to school today, Mom!" I shouted. "Wait. What?" my mother replied. "Did you just say you want to go to school, A.J.?" "Yeah!" I said. "I love school!"

My mom rushed to the medicine cabinet to get the thermometer. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked when she got to my room. She put her hand on my forehead and held it there. "Maybe you have a temperature." Well, of course I have a temperature. Doesn't everybody have a temperature? If we didn't have a temperature, we'd be dead. "I'm fine, Mom," I told her before she stuck the thermometer in my mouth. We waited a million hundred seconds for the thermometer to beep. Finally it did. My temperature was normal. Yay! I could go to school! "I don't know, A.J.," my mom said. "Maybe you should stay home today." "Noooooo!" I shouted. "I want to go to school! Please, please, please let me go to school?"

Mom looked at me like I had three heads. This was the first time in the history of the world that I said I wanted to go to school. I looked at my mom with puppy dog eyes. If you ever want something from grown-ups, look at them with puppy dog eyes. It works every time. That's the first rule of being a kid. "Okay, okay," Mom finally said. "You can go to school."

"Yay!" When I got to school, Miss Porter was talking about palindromes. Those are words that are spelled the same way backward and forward. Like "mom" and "kayak."* "'RACECAR' IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A PALINDROME," said Miss Porter. "That's right!" said Ryan. "'Racecar' is another word that is spelled the same way backward and forward." "What's your favorite palindrome, Miss Porter?" asked Andrea. "GO HANG A SALAMI," replied Miss Porter. "I'M A LASAGNA HOG." "WOW," we all said, which is not only "MOM" upside down but is also a palindrome. "That is the coolest palindrome in the history of palindromes," I said. "And Miss Porter is the coolest teacher in

the history of teachers," said Andrea. "THANK YOU!" "I wish I knew what you looked like," said Emily. "It would be nice to hear you and see you." "I CAN LOOK LIKE ANYTHING, OR ANYBODY," said Miss Porter. "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE ME?" "Yes!" we all shouted. "OKAY, GIVE ME A FEW SECONDS TO GENERATE AN IMAGE." The Miss Porter machine made some beeps and weird noises. "This is exciting!" said Andrea, rubbing her hands together. "What if Miss Porter is really weird looking?" asked Ryan. "Yeah," I said. "Maybe it will look like a hideous monster with a disgusting face." "Stop trying to scare Emily," said Andrea. "I'm scared!" Emily said, covering her

eyes. "I can't look!" We were all on pins and needles. Well, not really. We were sitting on chairs. Sitting on pins and needles would have hurt. But we were all glued to our seats. Well, not exactly. Why would anybody glue themselves to a seat? How would you get the glue off your pants? But it was really exciting. Miss Porter made a few more beeps and weird noises. And then, slowly, an image began to appear right before our eyes. It was just like a regular lady was standing in front of us. It was amazing! You should have been there! "WOW!" we all said, which is a palindrome and also "MOM" upside down. "Miss Porter, you're pretty!" said Andrea. "You're beautiful!" said Emily. "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" replied Miss Porter.