One day when I was teaching and my students were all busy with separate tasks, I “mooed” like a cow. Then waited. All eyes were immediately on me. My students were shocked and I was smiling. Whenever I learned something interesting or more importantly, how people learn, I would share it with my students. This day I had learned that making a strange animal sound was an excellent way to get the attention of a crowd quickly. Never know when one might need that knowledge.

Several months later a student requested a bathroom break during class. The last time he had made this request I had forgotten and reprimanded him when he came back for not asking. The class supported him and I realized I had forgotten. The child was kind about my mistake. My memory was failing me on all fronts in the classroom. So this time the brilliant child gave my own trick back to me and “mooed” at the door. We all looked up at him in shock. “I just wanted to be sure you remembered I asked to use the bathroom!” We all laughed.

The next year I left teaching due to memory and fatigue issues impacting my ability to instruct and manage a classroom. At the end of the school year the principal had me back at the awards ceremony to recognize my many years of teaching for the school. When I left the stage the entire back of the room began to “moo”. It sounded like “booing”. I had forgotten the lesson I had taught the children so one of them came running forward, “We are mooing, Mrs. Cook! Mooing!” A smile came to my face and tears to my eyes as I took the stage again and shared the story with the audience. They clearly had learned how to get the attention of a crowd!

Image from: www.belmontworldfilm.org.