I was sitting at a table, across from my teaching partner, grading projects. We were both feeling happy – the quality of the work was great and we’d ooh and ah when we came across a particularly beautiful piece of work. As I turned from an assignment to the rubric that was stapled on the back. Something brown jumped.
I slammed the top sheet down.
Was that a flea?
I lifted the corner and it jumped again. Definitely a flea. I slapped the paper back down and wondered for a moment, Did Lucy have fleas?
I stilled and thought carefully. The papers had been turned in on Friday and I had not brought them home. Lucy had received her monthly flea/heartworm medication last week and there had been no signs of fleas before or since. No, this flea was not from my house. I relaxed.
Then, I thumped the papers a few more times before looking over the work. I carefully lifted the top page to fill out the rubric – and to ensure the flea had been crushed. It had been and it left no mark on the rubric.
