How to Crack a Walnut and other Stories

Dana Teacher gave me some walnuts. Annie and Wendy asked if they could have one. First Annie tried to crack it by simply squeezing it with her hands. Then she tried throwing it on the ground. Eventually, she resorted to slamming a desk on it, but that didn't work either. Finally, she sat on the desk and then Wendy lifted it and slammed it down, shattering the walnut into a million pieces. We picked the bits off the floor and ate them.

Another classic elevator picture.

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I asked the students what they thought I should be for the Halloween party. I got several good suggestions...

• pirate
  
• reporter
  
• Jean Teacher
  
• a princess (and the girl said I could borrow her mom's dress. I kindly declined her offer.)
  
• Shrek
  
• Superman
  
• an old woman
  
• lion
  
• etc...
  

My favorite response came from a cool kid named Grappler. He said, "You should be a noodlehead."

I said, "What in the world is a noodlehead?"

He said, "Teacher, one plus one equals one. That's a noodlehead."

I loved his idea and explanation, but I think I'll be a ninja instead.

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I created another "special test". The goal was to move 3 plastic balls across the room, but there were a few special directions...
[1]you can only touch the ball with a piece of paper that I give you.
[2]when you are touching a ball with the paper you cannot move your feet.
[3]if one ball drops you must start over.
[4]you can only speak English.

The girls tried several times and successfully accomplished their mission. But I challenged them to do it faster. Suddenly, Joy shouted, "I have an idea."

She was wearing two shirts... she put the paper between the shirts and then stuffed the three balls into the pocket made by the shirts. Then she instructed the other girls to carry her across the room. They accomplished their mission in 8 seconds.

When we discussed the special test, I asked, "What did you learn from your experience today?"

Joy piped out, "Cheating is faster and important."

I said, "Noooo, silly, you were being creative. You followed all the rules."

But she just gave me a sly grin and kept repeating, "Cheating is important."

Then I asked, "How did you accomplish your goal?"

Wendy said, "We had to talk, play, love."

I said, "Wow, that's profound. Who told you that?"

Wendy replied, "It's on a TV commercial."

I sighed.