The Teacher Becomes the Student

I have a student I've nicknamed Eeyore who loses everything. He loses the pencil out of his hand. He forgets the jacket that is lying at his feet. His absentmindedness is epic and drives me nuts. There's only one problem with my frustration: I have my own issues with forgetfulness.

I have lost articles of clothing in countries around the world. I am constantly asking my students, "Did you see where I set my pen down?" or "Where did I put those papers...?" So, it was with a little bit of embarrassment the other day when I realized I had misplaced my jacket...right after Eeyore realized he couldn't find his at the end of the day.

"I know I brought it upstairs!" I insisted. A couple of students even vouched for that fact. But sure enough, when we went down to the cafeteria to look for Eeyore's jacket (he found it lying on the floor beneath the table), we found my coat hanging on a hook next to that same table. So maybe I'm not ready to lecture my students on keeping track of their belongings...but I'll still try to model other worthwhile habits while I work on my own problems with forgetfulness.

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