February Funnies: Fun with a Hovering Helicopter

Last year near the end of school a student got a really neat hovering helicopter toy for his birthday. He told me all about it and asked if he could show it in science class the next day. Since he was so excited about it and it sounded like a pretty awesome toy I told him to bring it in.

The next day he came to class and pulled the helicopter from his bag. Before the bell rang and class began he showed me how it worked. The helicopter had a little fan in it that helped it hover over a surface.  When he had his hand under it and moved his hand the helicopter would follow, floating just above his palm. It was a super cool toy and I was looking forward to trying it out myself, as were the dozen or so students around us. Unfortunately, the student moved his hand up a little high and a little too close to my head, causing the helicopter's fan to completely entangle itself in my hair instantly. The helicopter was snugly stuck on the top of my head. The students, of course, thought this was hilarious. The owner of the helicopter was displaying some very mixed emotions; he clearly felt bad about it but also was trying not to laugh too hard.

After unsuccessfully attempting to dislodge the helicopter from my head, I enlisted the help of several female students in my class. When they pulled out some scissors I decided I'd rather have the geography teacher across the hall give it a try.  The bells had rung by that point, signaling the beginning of class. I stood in front of my class of thirty-five seventh graders with the helicopter on my head and my hand firmly on the helicopter. I hastily gave directions to the students to begin their Do Now while I got some help in the hallway.

The geography teacher's students were lined up outside of her classroom listening to her instructions for the day. As soon as I walked out, there were a few chuckles from students which caused the teacher to glance my direction. She had some sympathy for my predicament and came over to determine just how tightly the helicopter was wound in my hair. Pretty darn tightly it turned out. She had a student bring over scissors. Before she could make any snips, the math teacher came out to the hallway to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw us he told us to hold on a second and quickly reentered his classroom. He returned with his camera, took a couple of pictures, and told us to continue.

A few cuts later I was free of the helicopter (and a few chunks of hair). Sadly, the helicopter didn't fair as well and never hovered again. And that's just one of my very public, very embarrassing funny teaching moments.

Thank you to ELA Buffet and Desktop Learning Adventures for including me in February's Blog Hop.

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