Dear Understanding Fellow Staff Member,
If you are missing a small timer, I may have it. It is rectangular, mostly white with green letters, and beeps when the time is up.
In early January, a student brought it to me describing it as a gift from him to me. An investigation followed revealing that another student found it in the bathroom, and- unsure of what to do with it- gave it to this boy. A conversation on honesty, responsibility, and integrity followed. I told the boys that they were old enough to know what the right thing to do is when you find something that doesn’t belong to you.
I got back to my favorite thing which is to actually teach academic material, and forgot the timer on my table. The next day I needed to time a student’s trip to the bathroom. Instinctively, I reached for a timer. “You have 2 minutes, or else you are using the Kindergarten bathroom next time.” I grabbed the lost and found timer because a substitute had left the building with mine in December. (I know because I saw him later that week. “I have something I need to bring back to you,” he said. “Yeah, my timer. I know.” He never brought it back, and our school has not brought him back.) Later in the day I needed to progress monitor students’ reading, an activity that demands time keeping. I grabbed the timer, and that was it. Using it as my own became a habit.
This past week we discussed the implied “you” imbedded in command statements. We used sample sentences such as, “(You) Make good choices.” “(You) Do the right thing.” “(You) Be sure to live with integrity.” Every time we have conversations like this – every time I find that a student is being less than truthful with me and I want to preach honesty and trust – I hear that timer’s weak but serviceable beep somewhere in my subconscious telling me that time on the lease is up.
So, there it is. A month later I am trying to do the right thing. If you lost a timer – white with green trim, counts up and down – I may have it. I have used it, and allowed students to use it. I have even lent it to other teachers, and tracked them down to ask for it back. If it’s yours, please let me know, and please know that I am sorry it has taken me this long to get it back to you.
Sheepishly yours in time,
Mr. Mikula
