Category: Investigations (Page 1 of 14)

Yesterday was soccer tryouts after school, so at recess, the kids switched from basketball to soccer. It was fun to watch.

After recess, I saw a honeybee on the floor of the hallway. I would normally be happy to see a honeybee, but this is part of an unexplainable abundance of honeybees on the hallway floor. Usually they’re dead 🙁

I don’t know if they are drawn there by something and then they die, or if they’re already dying and they come there to spend their last moments.

I tried to move this bee to safety before she got stepped on, but she looked weak. Poor bee.

I had to buy all new teacher shirts for school this year. I already complained that it is hard to find anything but “slim fit” shirts, which is ridiculous. I must also complain that none of the shirts I’m seeing have pockets. I keep trying to put my grading pen there, and it just slides off my chest. No pocket!

Is this a fashion change that happened in the five years I lived in Maui? Men’s dress shirts stopped having pockets? What is going on? I’m so confused.

In fourth quarter, I always read and discuss a novel with the seventh graders called “A Single Shard”. It’s a great story, and a Newbery Award winner. I have the students buy their own copy of the book so that I don’t have to police their treatment of a classroom set. I do offer to to order it for them if they want to.

This year, my book ordering has been weird. The book isn’t available on Amazon. Other online book places don’t seem to have it either. What is going on with this book? Were they behind on printings?

I finally called the local Barnes and Noble. They said they could order it for me and have it sent to my school. I ordered thirteen of them.

The first ones arrived on Tuesday:

Then more on Wednesday:

Thursday:

And yesterday:

How strange! It’s like they put out the word to all the Barnes and Nobles in the country, and whoever had a copy on their shelf is sending it to me separately.

I have a stash of grading pens we use in my classroom. The ends have started to be cut off. Yesterday I told my students to not use the scissors to cut the pens because it would dull the scissors. Then one of my students said she is the one who’s been doing it, but she didn’t use scissors – she used her mask.

What?

Then she showed me – she sawed her mask ear strap back and forth across the pen. It got hot, then slid right through the pen and cut off the end. Mind blown!

Maybe a mask could be an emergency supply… could you rub it on a piece of wood and start a fire? This needs more investigation…

There is a mystery at school… a swarm of tiny flying bugs is located in one particular area for no apparent reason. Carrie has been trying to figure it out for a while, and she pointed it out to me, and I couldn’t see any reason for them. It’s really weird. They are highly localized… they just fly over this one section of sidewalk:

Can you see the tiny white dots? They are dozens of little gnat-like things. I tried to catch one or clap my hands together where they were flying, but I did not get any specimens. I have no idea what they are or why they’re there… hmmm..,.