"Are those the rocks that buzz when you throw them in the air?" a student asked this afternoon right after the bell.
He and his buddies have developed the habit of stopping by my room for one shot at the mini-hoop in hopes of winning a Jolly Rancher for the road. I humored them at first, their stay limited by the fact that they had to catch the bus, but as the days have warmed they are more and more willing to spend a little extra time with me and then walk home.
Today most of his friends had gone off to track practice, which he was also supposed to attend, but he was busy getting another of his buddies to call his mom so they could have a playdate (their word) after practice. His friend showed me pictures from his spring break in Florida while the first boy tried to contact his parents, and then it was this guy's turn to look at the stuff on my desk while the other kid tried to reach his mom again.
"No," I answered him about the rocks. "They are just magnetic rocks that another kid brought me from spring break over 10 years ago. I smiled remembering that student and also at the endless supply of little boys that I have had the privilege to know over the last 30 years.
"Really?" he said and took a couple. He threw them in the air and was unable to catch them. The second time his toss was better, and the rocks stayed close enough together that they attracted and repelled each other all the way into his hand, making a buzzing noise as they did.
"Well I'll be darned!" I said as both he and his buddy repeated the trick over and over.
"Look what they can do!" I said to Heidi as she came into the room to pick up some printing.
"Did you teach Ms. S. something?" Heidi asked, impressed.
The boys nodded proudly, gleefully tossing the buzzing rocks.
"That's pretty good!" she said.
"I agree," I nodded. "How about a Jolly Rancher before you go?"
No comments:
Post a Comment