My Detective Hat
There's a saying that teachers wear a lot of different hats as part of their job. Well, this week I had my detective hat on, and I would say that I wore it well. Yesterday morning, a group of girls came up to me pretty much as soon as the day had started. Apparently, a rumor had been started by about one of the girls in the group. On went my detective hat! From the sounds of it, the rumor had not been widely spread, so that was a definite plus. I collected the information that the girls could provide me and set off on my mission.
Now, luckily, with the way that our schedule is organized, the students are actually coming into school and settling into the classrooms before school academically starts. We call it "Peaceful Start." It's a time for the students to peacefully ease into the school day (hopefully). Since it was peaceful start, I had the flexibility to check into my new case and interview potential suspects. The girl who the rumor was about had given me the name of the boy who told her about it; we shall call him suspect A. He said that he had overheard the rumor from three girls who were talking on the bus ride home the day before (Tuesday). Three new suspects: B, C, and D. (Interesting sidenote: suspect D had been one of the girls consoling the rumored girl when this all began...) Well, B and C just so happened to be near each other when I found them, so I asked them what they knew. They both said that the first they had heard of a rumor going around was that morning from a different individual, suspect E. Suspect E said that she had heard the rumor from A and that the only reason she talked with B and C about it was that A said he heard it from B and C.
I should note that A, B, and C are not students that I regularly work with, so I asked for a little background information from their teachers. As it turns out, A has been in situations where matters of the truth are a little foggy. As you can guess, this moved A to the top of the list. Just one more suspect to check in with--D. I asked her when the first time she had heard the rumor, she stated that the girl the rumor was about told her that morning (when D asked the girl what was wrong, seeing that she was sad). Seeing as I only had five suspects (and one with a murky history), it was time to reinterview and clarify stories. I also brought a notepad with me, so they knew I was serious :-)
I began with A. "Remind me when you heard the rumor and who said it?" "I overheard B, C, and D talking about it on the bus yesterday." "And you told the girl about it because..." "I know her, and I thought that she should know about it right away so that it could be stopped."
Now just B. "When was the first you heard about the rumor?" "This morning, from E." "You weren't talking about it with C and D on the bus yesterday?" "No, I don't even ride the bus with them after school." (C also doesn't ride his bus). I called A back out to join my conversation with B. "You said you heard B, C, and D talking about it yesterday on the bus?" "Yes." "But B doesn't ride the bus with you..." "...Oh, wait, nevermind! It wasn't on the bus. I heard them talking at lunch yesterday." (See where this is going?) Me, to B: "So did this rumor start at lunch?" "Well, we were talking about her, but it wasn't about this rumor." Suspect A: "I heard them talking about her, so I guess I thought it they were talking about the rumor." I sent B away and then asked, "So, where and when did you actually hear the rumor?" "From D, on the bus." "But you said you overheard B, C, and D on the bus; B and C aren't on your bus." "I know, I guess I just thought B and C were talking about it. But D did tell me on the bus." (Story changed from "I overheard it" to "D told me.)
Unfortunately, I was unable to get a definitive answer to my case during peaceful start, and I needed to postpone the investigation until lunch. The nice thing, however, was that I was now able to rule out B, C, and E (the only reason E was involved was that she heard it from A and told B and C). That left me with A and D, and all signs pointed to A. It worked so well to have A and B chat together and poke some holes in the story, why not A and D this time around? Me, to D: "A says that you told him the rumor on the bus. Is this true?" "No. When did he say I told him?" A: "You told me yesterday on the bus ride home." "I couldn't have. I wasn't on the bus yesterday." Me, in my mind: "Case closed!" But, of course, A pipes in, "Oh, wait, it was Monday. I must have gotten my days mixed up." Me: "A, I've heard your story change enough to know that I'm not getting the truth. D, you can go."
A still tried to convince me that he was telling the truth, even going as far as to say, "If I made up the rumor, why would I tell it to the girl it was about?" (In my mind: "Because you want to make her upset.") "I'm not sure why someone would do that."
Later on, one more hole in the story dawned on me. A had stated that he thought the girl should know about the rumor right away so that it could be stopped. However, once his story changed from hearing about it on Tuesday to being told it on Monday, he no longer informed the girl right away.
I'm hoping that I won't have to put on my detective hat again for a while...
Mindfulness thought for the week: When it rains, search for rainbows. When it's dark, search for stars. --A student shared this one with me :-)
Now, luckily, with the way that our schedule is organized, the students are actually coming into school and settling into the classrooms before school academically starts. We call it "Peaceful Start." It's a time for the students to peacefully ease into the school day (hopefully). Since it was peaceful start, I had the flexibility to check into my new case and interview potential suspects. The girl who the rumor was about had given me the name of the boy who told her about it; we shall call him suspect A. He said that he had overheard the rumor from three girls who were talking on the bus ride home the day before (Tuesday). Three new suspects: B, C, and D. (Interesting sidenote: suspect D had been one of the girls consoling the rumored girl when this all began...) Well, B and C just so happened to be near each other when I found them, so I asked them what they knew. They both said that the first they had heard of a rumor going around was that morning from a different individual, suspect E. Suspect E said that she had heard the rumor from A and that the only reason she talked with B and C about it was that A said he heard it from B and C.
I should note that A, B, and C are not students that I regularly work with, so I asked for a little background information from their teachers. As it turns out, A has been in situations where matters of the truth are a little foggy. As you can guess, this moved A to the top of the list. Just one more suspect to check in with--D. I asked her when the first time she had heard the rumor, she stated that the girl the rumor was about told her that morning (when D asked the girl what was wrong, seeing that she was sad). Seeing as I only had five suspects (and one with a murky history), it was time to reinterview and clarify stories. I also brought a notepad with me, so they knew I was serious :-)
I began with A. "Remind me when you heard the rumor and who said it?" "I overheard B, C, and D talking about it on the bus yesterday." "And you told the girl about it because..." "I know her, and I thought that she should know about it right away so that it could be stopped."
Now just B. "When was the first you heard about the rumor?" "This morning, from E." "You weren't talking about it with C and D on the bus yesterday?" "No, I don't even ride the bus with them after school." (C also doesn't ride his bus). I called A back out to join my conversation with B. "You said you heard B, C, and D talking about it yesterday on the bus?" "Yes." "But B doesn't ride the bus with you..." "...Oh, wait, nevermind! It wasn't on the bus. I heard them talking at lunch yesterday." (See where this is going?) Me, to B: "So did this rumor start at lunch?" "Well, we were talking about her, but it wasn't about this rumor." Suspect A: "I heard them talking about her, so I guess I thought it they were talking about the rumor." I sent B away and then asked, "So, where and when did you actually hear the rumor?" "From D, on the bus." "But you said you overheard B, C, and D on the bus; B and C aren't on your bus." "I know, I guess I just thought B and C were talking about it. But D did tell me on the bus." (Story changed from "I overheard it" to "D told me.)
Unfortunately, I was unable to get a definitive answer to my case during peaceful start, and I needed to postpone the investigation until lunch. The nice thing, however, was that I was now able to rule out B, C, and E (the only reason E was involved was that she heard it from A and told B and C). That left me with A and D, and all signs pointed to A. It worked so well to have A and B chat together and poke some holes in the story, why not A and D this time around? Me, to D: "A says that you told him the rumor on the bus. Is this true?" "No. When did he say I told him?" A: "You told me yesterday on the bus ride home." "I couldn't have. I wasn't on the bus yesterday." Me, in my mind: "Case closed!" But, of course, A pipes in, "Oh, wait, it was Monday. I must have gotten my days mixed up." Me: "A, I've heard your story change enough to know that I'm not getting the truth. D, you can go."
A still tried to convince me that he was telling the truth, even going as far as to say, "If I made up the rumor, why would I tell it to the girl it was about?" (In my mind: "Because you want to make her upset.") "I'm not sure why someone would do that."
Later on, one more hole in the story dawned on me. A had stated that he thought the girl should know about the rumor right away so that it could be stopped. However, once his story changed from hearing about it on Tuesday to being told it on Monday, he no longer informed the girl right away.
I'm hoping that I won't have to put on my detective hat again for a while...
Mindfulness thought for the week: When it rains, search for rainbows. When it's dark, search for stars. --A student shared this one with me :-)
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