You Know Those People Who...

Are always doing cool things you think you should be doing but are afraid to try? Well, sometimes those people are failing in just the ways you're afraid you might, but at least they tried!

About a month ago Tyra came home and told me that Ms. Bastio was going to get some shad eggs for the kids to help hatch in their classroom, and then to be released into the Anacostia River. When I heard this I thought, "What a great teacher [and she is], I would never tackle such a project as a teacher! It sounds intimidating and possibly complicated to set up and do." Well, Tyra was very excited about it, and told me about them each day. Apparently the eggs were clear while alive, but if they died they became cloudy-white. The students used pipettes to remove the dead eggs from the large tank. One morning while I was in the classroom I asked her if I could look into the huge barrel and running water hose contraption in the back of the room. Ms Bastio came over with me and said under her breath "I'm so afraid they're all dead or dying, we can't see anything hatching yet!" Then that afternoon Tyra came home and told me all about how she was the first one to see the tiny fish swimming that had been there all along. She said she had to look through the water to see them, not just on top as everyone else had been. After that Ms. Bastio used a flashlight and everyone was able to see them. I'm sure Tyra's discovery eased Ms. Bastio's mind, and it made Tyra happy too.

So I was getting all excited for Tyra's fieldtrip where they would release the shads into the river and thinking what a great thing that she's in school and doing these kinds of things. As soon as she came home from school I expected her to be bursting with the news. I was very surprised and somewhat confused when she said "It was okay, only a few kids got to help dump them into the river. We couldn't really see anything." Then I remembered what is NOT so great about doing things in school: you have such a large group that even fun things are filled with long lines and long waiting times, and it's impossible for everyone to have a front-seat view. That's what I chalked her lack of enthusiasm up to. But a few days later when I was talking to Ms. Bastio she confided in me that the Science teacher had put the fish into some container and put it in the back of her minivan to drive down to the river and a short way from the school the container spilled all over her minivan floor! So she drove back to the school and filled up the container with water and continued on to meet with the class at the riverbank! No wonder Tyra couldn't see anything! There was nothing to see! I like to think there were a few fish saved, as per the article in the Gazette, but even if not, they've done the project once now, and like all the programs at BHES, it'll get better every year as they learn from past mistakes!

As for me, I'm just thinking how I need to stop thinking like a perfectionist, i.e. "I won't do it if I can't do it perfectly." The fun is in the learning and the perfection comes from try, try, trying again!