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A Teeny Tiny Teacher

It’s Not Mine

Hello!  Tomorrow is Friday!  I could get used to a three day work week that starts on a Wednesday, let me tell you.

Today, I collected a bunch of paraphernalia on my desk.

This is good for you to know in case you want to send me a gift.  You could send me something for my collection.

Except for one thing . . .

I’m not actually collecting anything (unless you count chocolate or wine that disappears quickly as a collection).

My kids find things.  And then they bring them to me.

But, usually, none of it is mine.

It’s Not Mine, I say.

I also say something to this effect when someone tells me that they can’t find their pencil/marker/eraser/textbook/whiteboard/desk/chair/etc.  I say, “Well, I don’t have it.”  Unless, in fact, I do have it because I had to take it away for one reason or another.  

So, any who, most of the time, It’s Not Mine.

Here’s today’s collection:

Alright, so some of this is mine.
For example, that dinosaur pointer.  That is mine.  And now it’s broken and no one knows how it happened.  
I don’t know, they said.
It wasn’t me, they said.
Eyes averted, looking away, looking anywhere but at me.
Hmmmmm.
Well, I didn’t do it, I said.
The pencils?
I have a place for pencils.  But, somehow, someway, my kids bring pencils to me.
The paperclips?
I have a place for paperclips.  But, somehow, someway, my kids bring paperclips to me.
The pen cap?  I have no clue.  We don’t usually write with pens like that in my room and, when I need a regular kind of pen, I can never find one.  So that pen cap is clearly not mine.  It’s most likely contraband.
The rubber band?  I never have rubber bands, either, so someone has some ‘splaining to do.
And, lastly, that number one label?  Apparently, it fell off of a basket in our classroom library.
Fell off.  Even though it was HOT GLUE GUNNED onto the basket, along with eleven other baskets, and the labels have been adhered to the baskets without any trouble for about . . . oh, I don’t know, let’s say . . . fifteen months, one week, four days, and two hours.
Yeah, I’m sure it fell off.
Does it seem as if my kids are destructive?  Because they really aren’t.
But something happened today.  
And I don’t know what it was . . . but I think I’m just going to go with . . . there was a full moon or we had a short week or Tae Kwon Do was canceled.
One of those . . . 
In any case, to take care of this collection, I did what I usually do when I want to leave my classroom looking all nice and neat . . . I threw it all away.
Yes.  Even the paper clips.  Even the pencils.  Even the pointer that I could have taped or bungee corded or zip tied or what have you . . . sometimes, you’ve just got to make it all disappear.
And that’s what I did.
Don’t report me to the Recycling Committee.
Thank you.

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    Been there, done that! Who has time to find the home for every little thing? The simplest solution is often the best.

  2. A Simple Southern Life says

    Haha, this post has me smiling because I completely understand the feeling. How it's possible for my students to "find" so much stuff is beyond me. (:

  3. Melissa Young says

    I throw it away, too, but I do it in another classroom just in case!

  5. Tami says

    So glad it wasn't just mine! I come with crazy things in my pockets!

  6. Maureen Antoski says

    Too funny, looks like a bit of the stuff I had to confiscate from little hands today…when I say come to the carpet it means with nothing, nothing in your hands…I had ponies, pencils, elastics, and a sock?? Oh my…granted I was on a sick leave for 4 weeks and it's just my second day back but really??

  8. Kristin says

    Yesterday I saw a pack of gum on the floor and decided to be proactive about it. I knew that if I didn't pick it up, someone would bring it to me soon enough. So, I picked it up, pushed in a stray piece of wrapped gum, and OUT CAME A COCKROACH. It was a PRANK TOY. Since my attempt to be proactive backfired, I'm never picking anything up again.

    Kristin
    My Carolina Classroom

    • Shelly =) says

      I am DYING! And have renewed my resolve that things on the floor are the responsibility of the people closest to the floor!

  9. Miss Kindergarten says

    You did not throw away your number 1!!! I know you!! And yesterday HAD to have been a full moon, I don't care what the sky said!

  10. MissCoffey says

    Haha. Love this, and can so relate. My kids are always bringing me staples. Like, the ones that fall to the floor when I take things off the bulletin board. Why on earth do they think I would want those!? Gah!

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