Too Much Information

Today while my class was working in pairs and small groups with the lap tops during social studies, I saw Bobby get up and sign out to the bathroom. I'm not sure why I noticed, except that when he tossed the pass (a cd) onto his desk, it fell, so he had to walk over to pick it up. Then he left the class.

I was making the rounds of the student pairs and small groups. I kept noticing that Cindy, who had been working with Bobby (against her will), was all alone (and happy about that, I'm sure...). I glanced at the clock, noting the time, and went over to the bathroom sign-out sheet. When kids sign out to the bathroom, they write down their name and the time. When they come back in, they again write down the time. That way I can tell if a kid is wasting time. I figure it should only take them about 5 minutes. When I looked at Bobby's sign-out time, I could see that it had already been 11 minutes. So I waited.

Soon Bobby came back and rejoined his partner (much to her dismay). I strolled over and grabbed the bathroom sign-out sheet. According to Bobby's sign-in time, he had been in the bathroom for 14 minutes. I called Bobby over.

"Bobby, how long were you in the bathroom?" I asked.

He looked at the clock. "I think for 15 minutes..." he said.

Without thinking, I said, "What were you doing for 15 minutes?" Then I caught myself. "Never mind," I said. "It should only take you about 5 or 6 minutes to go to the bathroom, wash your hands, and get back to class. You owe me time. You will do 10 minutes on a paw at recess."

Later I wrote out the recess slip and handed it to Bobby. He took it from me. Then he said, "I couldn't help it. It was a big one..."

Too much information.