I don't know how this came to me, but I started thinking about all of the different roles we play as teachers. We're parents, counselors, nurses, judges, actors.... you get the idea. One of the things that teachers have to be is good detectives. Isn't there always a mystery to solve?

So, I began thinking of the great capers I have come across and solved in my career. Some were easy, some took a bit of thinking. With that, here they are. My most memorable cases solved.

Case #1- The Case of the Mailbox Graffiti Artist
Someone wrote on the classroom mailbox (it was one of those cardboard jobs you can get from the teacher catalogs). This was my easiest case to solve. The vandal had written, "ROBERTO". Who done it? Well, Roberto did. Though it was in his handwriting, he steadfastly denied the job.

Case #2- The Case of the Hungry Student
A student came to me claiming that another student had bitten his arm. "What happened?", I asked. "He just said, I got something for you, and then he bit me!", the student replied. Sure enough, the student had a mark where a set of white pearlies had latched onto his arm.

I interrogated the accused student. He denied all charges. I looked again at the bite marks on the victim's arm. A full set of choppers had clamped down on him, no doubt. Then it dawned on me. The accused was missing his two front teeth. The bite mark had its two front teeth. "I say!, Watson!" The conclusion? The victim bit himself to get the other student in trouble. If he hadn't admitted it, I was going to take tooth impressions.

Case #3- The Case of the Stolen Hunk of Ice
A little girl in my class comes up to me very upset announcing that one of the boys had "stolen her ice". "What?", I asked. "Dario stole my ice!", she countered. "Where was it?", I inquired. "In my pocket!", the little girl answered. This was an easy case to solve. I explained the effects of classroom warmth on ice brought in from the outside, and read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats as my read aloud.

Case #4- The Case of the Phantom Signature
I had sent a note home with a student to be signed. When it came back to me the next morning, I was suspicious. "Eddie, did your mom sign this?", I asked. "Yes.", said Eddie. "Eddie, I don't think your mom really signed this.", I shot back. "Yeah, she did!", countered Eddie. "So, when I call your mom and ask if she signed it, she's going to tell me that she did, right?" Silence from Eddie. Further interrogation lead to Eddie's admission of guilt. He had signed the note himself. He really had no chance. He had signed it, "Eddie's Mom".

Case #5- The Case of the Marker Sniffing Child (My personal favorite)
I had a set of smelly markers in my class. Red smelled like cherry, blue like blueberry, purple was grape... you get the idea. Jose comes to me after working at centers. He has a nose covered with red, blue, purple, orange and black dots. "Jose, have you been sniffing the markers?"

Ahhh....what else would I want to be doing with my life??? I think I was made to be Ms. Super Sleuth!

Besos mi gente...