Those Children

As I was teaching about the normal distribution in PreCalculus class this morning, I noticed a note being passed. Yes, teachers really do notice those things. I generally don’t mind because it rarely happens, so when it does, I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are asking a very important question that they are afraid they will forget to ask in person later, and I can respect that. I’d probably do the same thing. And I’d rather them pass a note than holler something across the room to the person they are needing to talk to. This morning was different though. I didn’t see who wrote the note, but I knew it had come from the very back of the room and was working its way forward. It was causing a bit of commotion. Every time the note got handed off, there seemed to be some confusion as to its destination. I heard a few kids asking, “REALLY? Are you SURE?”

At the exact time the note reached the second row from the front, I had two simultaneous realizations.

1. The note had to be stopped. I could not allow this distraction to continue.
2. The note was for me.

I quick scanned the back row and found the one kid with one eyeball pointed down at his textbook and one eyeball pointed up at me, waiting to see what my reaction would be. He was the culprit. A student in the front row said, “Um, Miss, I think this is for you?” and passed me a folded up square of paper. I couldn’t help myself. I opened it up, and sure enough, it was written in my suspect’s handwriting.

I gave the stern one-eyebrow-raised-what-is-this? look to culprit kid, who by now was about to burst with glee in his seat in the back row. He couldn’t contain his happiness at seeing his plan unfold and shouted out, “But that’s just between you and me!”

Janice, very studious quiet Asian girl who sits next to culprit kid, knew what was in the note, realized that I had actually READ the note, and immediately responded with, “Oh, NO! I PROMISE I didn’t say that! He is making things up!” Which, of course, I knew he was, because he is a goofball and he WOULD do something like pass a teacher a note during class just to say something utterly ludicrous.

The whole class was oh, so curious about what was in the note. But I will never tell my secrets. Unless they read this blog.