The Apology

As we walked in to the classroom, small Thirdlander looked up at me and said, "We've got a salamander."  I ignored him as I tried to direct the Thirdlanders toward a calm transition from recess to silent reading. After a minute, I came to my senses and said, "Is there a salamander somewhere in this classroom?"  Bouncy Thirdlander came running up, squirming salamander in hand.  "I didn't bring it in, but here it is."  I directed him to return it to the wilds of the playground and then I lectured about not bringing wild animals into the building.  Disappointed in my reaction, several Thirdlanders hostilely glared and scowled at me.

An hour later we were back outside for an extra recess.  I told the Thirdlanders that now I would like to see a salamander and I would like to take a photo of one.  I regretted those words as Thirdlanders began wildly flipping over logs and rocks near the creek.  Within seconds, all the searchers had at least one salamander and some Thirdlanders held three to four.  It was kind of horrific.  I took some photos and then asked the Thirdlanders to stop bothering the salamanders.  There was no stopping these salamander hunters at this point. They were in their glory.

Sorry, Salamanders.  I'll do better next time.