A recent post on my FB page stated:
Another adventurous day in the third grade: Getting drenched on the way to school, watching a rat fly out of a student's cubby where it had been making a nest, students having giggle fits on the carpet for no reason, and finally, the great chase (and kill) of the rat around the classroom with some helpful secondary students in tow! I now have a much cleaner classroom and, I think, a lighter heart. :)
You've got to love the laughter and fun of random events. Here are a few pictures of the crazy time we had!!!
It started out oh so simple. Take out a few things to get the rat. But wait, those shelves are HEAVY!
Watching the rat run back and forth, back and forth... and chasing after it (a bit like rats!) ourselves!
back...
...and forth...
Finally, our expert HOPAC rat catcher caught it under his foot by the tail. The only problem was that the rest of the rat was under the bookshelves, and for some strange reason, decided to stay there. Eventually, our little four-legged friend got away, and went behind my computer a few times before getting caught in a similar fashion.
Thankfully, the service learning class had taken my kids outside for an extra game time (in exchange for the 8th grade rat catcher) before all this ensued... so no screaming occurred during this whole incident. I did have a few students get "injured" outside while playing games (meaning they needed a "plaster" - or band-aid, as we'd say in the States...), who decided to stay and watch the fun. But mostly, it was a secondary fiasco in the grade three classroom that rainy afternoon.
Our expert rat catching team. Complete with lots of smiles and laughter to go around!!
Uh, this is the part where I'm supposed to say that no animals were harmed during this incident. Unfortunately (or fortunately, perhaps!), I cannot tell a lie. The rat died. (Ahh, let's all give a mournful sigh together.) My girls were afraid to hear a final squeak, but our expert was too good for that, and we were all spared such a tragic ending.
Despite the rain, the whole group took the rat out to be "buried" on HOPAC's campus somewhere. I didn't see any reason to follow. My class was coming back in a minute, it was pouring - HARD, and I didn't feel the need to mourn this poor rat who had sought shelter from the rainy day in my student's paper-filled, messy tray!
The group came back laughing. And told me they had tossed it over the wall. (WHAT?!) Where people routinely walk by on the outside. (Uhh...!) "But we didn't hear anybody say anything - just a thump when it hit the ground... so we don't think it landed on anyone's head" said one student who had been worried about the final mouse squeak.
What a change in perspective. At least I can sleep better at night! :P
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