Friday, February 19, 2016

R.I.P. Chief Bubbles

A little over a year ago, I had two of my students come in and ask if it would be okay if we got a class fish for a pet. I thought about it, and the kids stated that one of the parents would come in and clean the tank. With that agreement made, I said, "yes". So the parent agreed to come in from time to clean the tank, and I was ready for the journey to begin.

The kids were excited, and told me they had named the fish "Chief Bubbles". I laughed, but thought it was an appropriate name for my group's fish. Afterall, we are a rather unique bunch of people in my classroom. *grin*

So, over the past year, we have taken turns feeding the fish, I brought him home for breaks, and the fish was part of our class family. It was fun how the fish became a part of our routine and how the kids took responsibility for it. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't a fish that the class loved.

Earlier this week I noticed that the water needed to be changed. While I could have asked the parent that initially said she would help (because she would have come without hesitation) I had a little friend that wanted to help. One of my Kindergarteners said she wanted to be my assistant. So, she came on Wednesday to help me change water. Yes, we did what we were supposed to do. *grin* We swapped out water, with correct temperature, and I promised her that Thursday we would put Chief in the tank. *grin*

Thursday came, I got my Kindergartener, and we went to swap out the water. I walked over to the bowl it was in, and Chief was not moving. At all. I thought my little girl from Kindergarten would cry. I said, "uh oh", and she said, "Is it dead?" I said "yes", and she laughed! I smiled. Okay, so it wasn't going to be a sad day after I thought it might be because she was okay with the death. She said, "Are you going to buy a new one?"

I stopped.

Honestly, I thought hard about it.

I wasn't sure about doing this again.

Then I looked at her face...

I said, "Yeah, but not right away." *grin*

As the day went on, I told kids as they arrived to my class, and they were SO DRAMATIC in their sadness for Chief Bubbles. No one cried for real, and tons of laughter was in the room. It was a day all the kids won't forget, and I won't either.

The music class even wrote a song paying tribute to Chief Bubbles.

The kids made a sign for him.

I tell ya what, I'll get another fish this weekend.

I didn't expect the kids to love the fish like they did, but they did.

Seems to me, we need another fish to keep the trend going. *grin*

LIFE.
IS.
BETTER WITH FRIENDS (AND FISH) IN IT... *grin*

No comments: