Category: Investigations (Page 1 of 14)

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..,.

Th sanitation station we use every morning as kids come in to the sixth and seventh grade rooms is a video cart. I like to use it because it’s tall and because it has wheels. But it has a weird warning sticker on it. One of the drawings doesn’t make any sense to me.

It’s the first one. No short people? Don’t reproduce? Dance only with people who are of a comparable height?

I was enjoying the fresh air out on my lanai, and I couldn’t help the feeling I was being watched. I turned to the side, and saw something out of the corner of my eye.

It was the Big White Pigeon. I see it all the time. This time, it was peeking from around the corner. It was watching me.