When Michael was in elementary school, his science teacher instructed the students to create an insect collection. He found a lot of specimens in our own yard and surrounding areas. However, he was having difficulty finding enough bugs to complete the project. I decided to help him out. I told all of my students at school about the assignment and told them if they found any unusual bugs they should bring them to me. That in itself brought a lot of interesting things into my classroom. You can imagine how happy I was when a student brought me a live praying mantis. This beauty promised to be the centerpiece of the collection. Not wanting to be cruel, I soaked cotton balls in formaldehyde and put them in a sealed baggie with the mantis. The death was as quick and merciful as I could make it. I couldn't wait to get home to show Michael this amazing creature. But that's not what happened. You can imagine my shock, horror and embarrassment when that same student came in after school and asked me to return the praying mantis. I removed the plastic bag and dead mantis from my desk drawer and asked why he wanted it back if he brought it in for Michael's insect collection. At this point he welled up with tears and said, "Mr. Meyer, the praying mantis wasn't for your son. It's my pet and I wanted to show it to you!". OH LORD! I just killed this child's pet! I apologized up,down and all around, but the child wasn't consoled by my apologies. Many years later this story is hilarious. At the time it wasn't so funny.
Another time a child brought in a praying mantis. This time I knew it was for show and tell and no acts of "Mantis-cide" were committed. After everyone had a chance to look at the mantis and ask questions, it was time to move on with the rest of the school day. However, there was the problem of what to do with the mantis as the child brought no container to keep it in. Not really knowing what to do, I instructed the child to put the mantis in the cage with a small lizard. What could go wrong? The better question might have been, what couldn't go wrong? Hours later I was engrossed in teaching and had long forgotten Mr. Mantis and Mr. Lizard. My memory was quickly restored when a child shrieked, "Oh my God! The praying mantis is EATING the lizard!!!!". Knowing kids tend to over dramatize everything, I wasn't too concerned, but walked over to the cage to check things out. I was very surprised to see the child was NOT exaggerating. The praying mantis had literally taken a chunk out of the lizard's neck and the lizard was as dead as can be. Thankfully the lizard wasn't anyone's pet. But I have to admit that when it came to a battle between mantis and lizard, I never would have thought the mantis would kill the lizard.
There is now an unwritten rule in my classroom. Do not bring a praying mantis to school. I've been burned twice. That's enough.
Aren't God's creatures amazing?????
No comments:
Post a Comment