Flight of the Bumble Bee.

The excitement of bumble bees began near the beginning of the day when a little one discovered a giant bumble bee hanging out by the ceiling lights in our classroom. I was quietly helping one of the students with their writing at this time when I heard an abrupt commotion coming from the corner of the classroom. "Miss Molly, you have to come look at this bee!" they called me over. Without going near to see what the ruckus was about, I naturally encouraged them to find their seats. The excitement quickly became such a disturbance they couldn't let go of it, and I soon discovered that this bumble bee was a much bigger deal than the one I didn't make out of it.

"OK, let me take a look at this silly bee," I gave in, thinking we could have a short moment of awe and then continue our work. Apparently, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. "You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. "That has to be the biggest bumble bee I've ever seen!" I'll admit, sometimes my enthusiasm gets the better of me and I tend to exaggerate, but this was not the case. Amazed by it's size I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the thing. Suddenly everyone went to hide behind desks, where there was no topic of discussion other than bumble bees.


The picture ended up not doing it justice, but the bee was then left alone until...

"OK bumble bee, you have overstayed your welcome. It's time to leave," I called out as the kids ran in from recess an hour later and still in awe with this bee.

"Bumble bee, go away!" I shouted once more with a book in hand.

"Maybe he thinks your talking to yourself," a little one informed me.

I began to get serious as I propped open the outside door, stood on a chair, and began waving a book at the bee. Before long, I gained an audience with the 1st through 3rd graders peaking by my window laughing hysterically as I had it one-on-one with this bee. It was quite the fight, but the bee finally flew out of door and chased away 15 screaming children.

"That was AWESOME!" a third grader informed me. And of course, with the thrill of the moment, many of my Kindergartners from last year just had to come give me a tight squeeze.

Nothing like a bumble bee to throw of the day, but thanks to him I ended up being that much more of a hero.