The Mouse

Well, we still haven't found a friend for the mouse, but I think at this time it's too late. So instead will just love her as she is.

How could you not love this face?

Plus, I had never told the students that there was even an option for babies, as they would be driving me insane asking when it would happen, and other irritating things.

Look at her cute tail! I love how it wraps around your hand or whatever she's on. The kids do, too, though some of them are creeped out.

Anyway. Since we are soon to be celebrating National Poetry Month, the kids will write poems about the mouse.

She doesn't know it yet.

Neither do they.

I'll have to share some of them once they're written. 12-year-old poetry is awesome.

Mostly hilarious in its badness.

But awesome.

More About the Mouse

Well, the mouse has been with us for about three months now. The children still love her, and fight, I mean fight, to be the ones to clean her cage (ugh).

Now they are all trying to get on her "good side."

How do they do this? I am not sure, but they argue over who she likes best. This is particularly silly since I don't just let everyone hold her, as I am afraid she'll become leery of hands and bite someone. So they get to hold her if they clean her cage or bring something in for her, like bedding or food.

So I'm not sure how they judge this.

I have heard them use the way she runs in her ball on the floor as proof she likes one student over another... "See! She likes me, since she always comes this way first!" "No, no! Me, since she always goes straight to my backpack!"

I just laugh.

The science teacher on my team, where I originally got the mouse, has decided it would be fun to have more mouse babies, and since Souris is such a good little pet, he thinks we should let her have a friend.

Then we'll have lots of adorable mouse babies running everywhere (in just 28 days, I think he said.)

Now, before you freak out, Souris' babies would be only pets, not for food. He has a set of mice that he keeps for feeder mice, but mostly he buys them. He wants a class pet the kids can hold for his room, and I have several kids who want one, so I can give the rest of them away.

He thinks they'll be the best pets ever, since as soon as their eyes open, there will be tons of faces peering at them, and they'll be used to it.

I say, why not. So I'll have to keep you updated on how it goes in mouse-world. I'll get a picture posted sometime soon of Souris, and then of any babies.

I hope this is fun, and not a big, huge mess.

(Please)

Mouse Drama

Why does having one teeny, tiny mouse in a classroom create tons of drama?

She's very small (though also strangely fat, considering we do not feed her any snacks, only mouse food).

She's inconspicious, since she generally sleeps through the entire school day.

She's very, very quiet. I almost never hear anything from her, except on the rare occasion her wheel squeaks, or when I hold her, sometimes you hear a little squeak.

But if she dares to get up, the kids go crazy.

"Ms. Language Arts Lady! Ms. Language Arts Lady! The mouse is AWAKE! She's eating her food, Ms. Language Arts Lady! She's DRINKING! Oh, my gosh she's so cuuuuuuute!"

This, while really, really funny, is very distracting.

I am going to have to get a cover for her cage, because when they're already a little silly, the sight of any part of her makes them crazy.

Oh, well. I am planning on making them write journal entries and poems based on her.

Maybe then they'll just ignore her when she appears.

And it really is my own fault, since I chose to have her here... but she's still lots of fun to have around the kids. They are so funny with her.

Plus, she's a calming influence on some of them.

But mostly it's just because it's fun to have a classroom pet.

Little Details

It's the little things that make up a whole day. Each little minute going by, moving into the next minute, adding up to a whole period, a whole day, a whole week.

Some of the the little minutes I have had in my classroom recently:

-One of the kids was answering a question about what a female seahorse does with her eggs. She wrote, "She takes her eggs and gives them to her husband to hold for about 2 weeks. Once they are ready, he lets them go back to his wife."

-One of my boys decided that the mouse's name was too difficult and started calling her "Sally." Now his whole class period calls her Sally.

-Upon receiving an A on a test, one of my girls came over to ask me if it was a mistake. She was serious! (How heartbreaking is that? She says she has never gotten an A in language arts. I told her I was so proud!)

-The boys trying, for the 9th time, to make it in the trash can in a game of improvised basketball. Me, asking them to stop, also for the 9th time, starting to sound irritated.

-The computer completely and totally crashing as I was trying to show the kids something on the Internet. Leaving them to stare at me, startled, then gleefully begin talking.

-Me forgetting to tune into the morning announcements for two days in a row. (It's not like it's not every morning, at the same time, or anything.)

-Letting the children go 20 minutes early for lunch because I was so very confused about the time, what day it was, what period it was, and having them brought back by my 6th grade administrator. (Whoops).

-My student assistant staring at me like I am insane as I teach. (I really don't like this. It feels a little strange, her staring at me the whole time. Doesn't she have homework??)

-Having a child have a complete breakdown in the media center, complete with screaming, crying, and stomping feet. (By screaming, I mean, SCREAMING, not just yelling). He wasn't allowed to check out a book, since he forgot his ID that day. (The look on the media clerk's face was pretty funny, though. She wasn't expecting that from a 12-year-old.)

-One of my students asks for his grade every day. Rain or shine. Even when he just saw his grade online, before he left home. That morning. When nothing could have possibly changed.

Right now, it's a tiresome time for teachers. After the holiday break, we have the push to the standardized tests. The clock is ticking, the kids are feeling it and are squirrely, and the teachers are desperately trying to get it all in.

So, I am glad for the little moments right now... it keeps me from focusing on the bigger picture and going crazy!

(By the way, if anyone is interested in hearing more about anything in particular, feel free to leave it in my comments section, and I'll see if I can accommodate you... Thanks!)

How to Name a Mouse

Now, I have always had a hard time naming pets. It would take me forever, and it would get changed so many times, I wasn't allowed to tell my mother more than once per day what the newest name was.

When it came time to name the mouse, I had the same problem. I didn't want to name her something dumb, but something fun. Nothing overused, or simple, or snooty. I wanted her name to be perfect!

This wasn't easy, of course. I had the mouse for all of 10 minutes or so when the first student encountered me holding the mouse, and they immediately wanted to know her name. I responded, "Mouse."

Sadly, I was afraid that was as good as it would get.

The kids were just full of suggestions, some of them so hilarious I just have to share... here are all the ones I remember.

• Snowpuff (it was almost Christmas and she's white) - I thought it sounded like a rabbit.


• Snowball (same as above)


• Noelle - since it was a, quoting them, "Christmas miracle mouse"


• Chrissy - short for Christmas


• Rackety (name of a mouse in a book)


• Isabella - still confused on this one


• Bob - Bob is my standard example name, so they said it should be Bob even though she's a girl.


• Lucky - since I saved her from a snake


• Red-eye - because she has them, apparently.


• Silver Bell - after the song, I think it was supposed to be.


• Miracle - because she was a miracle mouse


• Snack - since she was supposed to be a snake-snack


• Ms. Language Arts Lady, Jr. - They wanted to name it after me, but just add a junior. Then they tried initials...


• Jeff - ?

I then told them I wanted to name her after a book, or a character in a book. They responded with:

• Lucy (which was clever, since she's in a book we're reading together)


• Bloodhook (apparently a pirate?)


• Naruto - a character from a TV show, but I guess that's close to a book


• Harry Potter - I am not even kidding. Not even Hermione. Just Harry Potter. Both names.

After a week of being called simply mouse, I tired of it, and knew I had to find a name. However, I really just didn't like any of the names that were suggested. She finally was christened with her name, though, and not from a book, sadly.

Her name is Souris, which is pronounced mostly like "Surrey," but with a French accent.

I suddenly remembered the French classes I had taken throughout high school and college.

It was perfect!

(It means 'mouse' in French)

I knew it was the best I could do.

A Whole New Year!

Well, it's a brand new year! How exciting.

Well, it should be exciting. And it is, mostly... but also challenging.

I have been very busy recently, and haven't really had a chance to get anything posted, but everything should be calming down soon... hopefully.

Well, a quick update on what's been going on:

• The first day back from break, we had a parent conference scheduled. We all thought that this was insane, and that we had a lot of work to do to get ready for a new year, and getting back into the groove, but we all met in the designated place... and the parents never came. It's not like we asked for the conference... they did. The child is getting all As and Bs, and while she could easily have straight As, it's just because she's being way too social. My whole team was irritated (since you have to wait, because if they show up, pretty much no matter how late, you have to meet with them.) They rescheduled the conference (never mentioning the one they just missed) for a few days later, then sent us all emails saying how sorry they were since they had to cancel the meeting. I was thinking to myself, "You're sorry for telling me in advance you're not coming, but you're not sorry for just not showing up?"
• One of my students, Trouble, may be going to an alternative school, which hopefully will get him the help he needs and give him the structure he needs.
• Another student, Stubborn, is being removed from my class and put into a special language class, since he needs so much low-level help... this might be good for him, but maybe not, since he seems to have bonded with me...
• We are now entering the push towards the standardized tests that are coming relatively soon... I feel crazed already. I need to get them to understand informational text, plus cause/effect, comparison/contrast, strong vs. weak argument, and fact vs. opinion, and not forget everything else we've done all year. Help!
• The kids came back totally mellow from the break... which is almost unheard of, at least with middle school kids. They must have been extremely busy, and are glad to get back to the slow pace of school...?
• The mouse is doing well, and she has grown an amazing amount since I got her... the kids were amazed. She is also fat (thanks mom, for taking such good care of her...) and doesn't like to eat her mouse food, as it's boring. She'll get over that really quickly, though, or starve. The science teacher on my team wants to give her a temporary mouse friend, so we can have mouse babies... but we'll see about that.

I think that's all the major stuff that happened this first week back... hopefully all will remain calm, and the kids will just learn everything just like they're supposed to do...

Well, I can hope, right?

Class Pet

Right before the break, my classroom got a new pet.

I think this is a sign that I am completely insane, but just haven't realized it yet.

The science teacher on my team has a great many animals in his room... turtles, mice, scorpions, snakes, a tarantula, plus many others that are mounted and preserved. The kids love his class, since he is such an awesome teacher, plus there is always something interesting to look at while they're in his class.

Well, somehow or other, I decided I wanted a classroom pet. I figured it would be fun, and could be used as a reward for the children, teach responsibility, and so forth, and since there is nothing more helpful than a 6th grader, I wouldn't have to worry about feeding, cleaning, or really doing anything other than playing with the pet.

My first thought was a cat. I love cats, but can't have one at home, so I figured, hey, this would work!

It wouldn't work, though, because of allergies.

So then I decided that a hamster would be nice. But I had never really given it serious thought, just a sort of idle speculation on how much fun it would be to have something.

Then I noticed the science teacher never really had to clean his own cages... his students fought over the chance to do it.

Then I was chatting with him about what would become of his mice, since he was talking about how he had a female mouse who was pregnant, and he said he keep one or two as classroom pets, and the rest would become snake food. He said he never would feed pet mice to the snakes, but he would make sure no one got attached to most of the mice, which would be helped by having some mice they were allowed to make into a pet.

I said that was a great idea, and wanted a baby mouse when she had some.

He told me I could have first pick, and I set about getting ready for a baby mouse.

Since mice have a pretty short gestation period, I knew I would need a home for my new baby mouse pretty quickly. I received a free, used (and pretty dirty, ew) wire cage, and got some students to clean it up. It was ready for my new mouse.

But no babies.

And no babies.

Still no babies.

I originally decided I wanted one right after school started. But nothing was happening on the baby-mouse front. The science teacher was perplexed, and decided eventually there was something wrong with either the male or the female. He planned to put a new mouse in the cage and see what happened.

Meanwhile, I have a cage sitting in my classroom, taking up space. Every single day, some student would ask me if I had the mouse yet. Every day. This was enough to drive even the sanest of people insane.

I eventually just started answering, "Yes, I did get the mouse. Can't you see it? There in the bottom?"

This caused all students to stare at the cage, desperately trying to see the mouse.

I just shake my head.

On the Wednesday right before school got out for the holiday break, we had a parent conference which ended a little early (A MIRACLE! They almost never end early. They usually end after the bell has rung and the children are screaming the hallways, pounding on the doors to be let in.) The science teacher had to feed his snakes, quickly, since he didn't want to be doing with all the kids in the room, as they get all wound up, and since it was almost break time, they already are all wound up.

So he brought out his cage full of 20 or so mice, and his student helpers (7th graders that we had last year) come to help with the feeding. I said, "Can I have one of these?" and he said, "Sure. Just pick it out, quickly, so we can get feeding."

It's almost hard to pick just one mouse out of a bunch, knowing I'm saving one, and the rest will be eaten.

They were all identical white mice, though, so I grabbed the smallest and picked it.

Another mouse was saved, a male, to be put in the breeding cage.

So I had my mouse! She was a tiny thing (I say she, because I decided she was female, but I have a sneaking suspicion now she's male, and will show her to the science teacher when I get back to confirm...) and I had to now get her set up in her new home.

The bell was going to be ringing in less than 10 minutes.

I had no bedding, or food, or anything but a cage.

She really was adorable, though, and didn't bite me, not even once. (She still has only bitten one person, my co-teacher, and she has bitten him twice. I think his hands must have had something on them...)

Then the bell rings. I still have nothing for the mouse, but I couldn't do anything about it now.

I go and stand at my door, like I'm supposed to do, with my mouse.

Several students do not notice the mouse, since she is tiny.

Once they did, however, kids everywhere yelling about the mouse. I let everyone look but not touch. She is just a baby, after all, and hasn't really ever been held. (She was less than a month old, apparently).

The science teacher across from me offered me an aquarium for the mouse to live in, but I said I had a cage, but would let her know if I needed it.

Well, long story short, I put her in a coffee canister that had been holding rulers, which worked for awhile during my first class... until she discovered she could jump.

Then I had her moved to a box that paper had come in... until she discovered it had a slit in the side she could climb.

I put the lid to block her, but she eventually discovered the other side, which had an identical slit, which I discovered as she was running across my classroom floor.

By this time I had bedding from the science teacher, and I put some in the cage I had. She was so tiny at the bottom, and the wire openings look a little large to me... so using a bit of cookie, I lured her over to the side, where the wire had the largest opening, and she just went out, like it was a door.

Oops... my cage wasn't going to work.

I got the aquarium, put food and bedding in for her, and a wheel I scavenged from the wire cage.

Now, each new class that came in swarmed the new cage, since it was in the front of the room, and since they had heard I had finally gotten a new pet.

They didn't realize that I would be at the door, holding the mouse, as the searched the cage, looking for her.

I would tell them, "Well, look really hard. She's really small."

I really am a mean person sometimes.

I can't wait to get back to school and get the mouse all settled in, and see how it goes...

I will have to get a picture of her and post it, so you can see how cute she is... but she has already grown quite a bit. I can tell you about the naming drama. (Ms. Language Arts Lady, let's call her HAROLD! Plus all the other crazy things they wanted. It was pretty funny).

Right now, she's staying with my parents, since I can't have pets where I live (let me tell you, my parents are thrilled. They were happy to have had their last rodent a long time ago, back when I myself was in middle school, or thereabouts.)

So we'll have to see how that all turns out. My mother is spoiling her. She claims the mouse doesn't like the food I bought for her, so she gives her cookies, cheese, apples, pretzels.

Mostly cheese, though.

The mouse is going to hate going back to school, since I will feed her the stuff she doesn't like, and maybe cheese once in a blue moon.

Oh, well. The children will sympathize.