Missing Fish or Miscalculation?

Have you ever evaluated a situation and quickly jumped to a conclusion?  I am definitely guilty of jumping to the wrong conclusion more than I'd like to admit.  In this particular scenario the situation is especially embarrassing and I hope you will not only find humor in it, but also learn from my rather epic faux pas.  Let me preface this story by saying I was very enthusiastic at the start of the year to have my own classroom and was eager to fill it with everything your average classroom contains and more.  Among the things required to complete my classroom was a class pet.  I figured since I love animals but needed something low maintenance, why not get a fish.  Fish are pretty much guaranteed to survive being hardy by nature.  So after researching "hardy, durable" fish in my all time

 favorite google search engine, I decided a Beta fish would be the best fit for our classroom 

environment.  I was especially excited since the fish would be colorful and probably match my decorations (totally ridiculous but that is the way my mind works).  Anyway, after saving and

 researching I was finally prepared to take the plunge and make the commitment to purchase and care for a living creature.  All went according to plan... I fed it weekly (every 2-3 days give or take)  and occasionally cleaned its tank.  As the school year progressed and I got busier 

and more tired, the fish ceased to be a priority.

Flash forward with me-  After a lovely four day weekend, I came into my room and scanned the environment to mentally assess if everything was still settled in its assigned space (our school is located in a multi-use building that is accessed by other groups for events on the weekends).  After determining everything was as I'd left it, I went to the sink to check on our fish.  Sadly, it had been more than a week (I won't admit just how long), since the tank was clean and the water was very murky.  I scanned the water and then immediately did a double take.  THE FISH WAS GONE!!!  I couldn’t believe my eyes and began to survey the water more carefully.  

I shook the tank and did not see anything float to the surface.  

In all astonishment, I scoffed aloud and made an assumption I am now embarrassed to admit. I assumed someone stole the class fish.  Why anyone would be interested in a malnourished sea creature is beyond me, but weirder things have happened, Right?  

I was so flabbergasted, I included a memo in the class newsletter and asked the parents to report back if they heard anything.  Naturally, there was no response (which I was grateful for later).

Later in the week, I asked my T.A. (a high school student who assists as me in the mornings) to clean out the tank so I could return it to my storage area.  Needless to say, this was not the most well thought out plan.  I discovered very quickly, sometimes its better to do things 

yourself. 

About ten minutes after sending her out, my T.A. returned to the classroom.  Interrupting my calendar routine she announced to the class that she needed gloves if she was expected to scrub out dirty tank with a dead fish inside.  Thankfully some of my kids are oblivious and remained wholly unaffected by the announcement.  

My perceptive ones on the other hand were listening avidly in an attempt to assess the situation.  Meanwhile, after seeing the look 

on her face and predicting her next sentence, I ungracefully and somewhat freakishly bounded across the room to the door (as if in slow motion) yelling no, no, never mind (to try and drown out her statement) and stop her from blowing the lid off our investigation.  You see, I not only posted a "missing fish" ad in our class newsletter, I also made several announcements to the class in hopes that our mystery would be solved.

After the truth surfaced, I was all together humbled by my ridiculous assumption and wiser in The ways of parent/student/teacher communication.

Confession:  It took me all of five seconds to conclude someone had stolen our fish and it didn't even occur to me that the dead fish may be nestled at the bottom of the tank, don't dead fish usually float?

Tip: Always have someone proof read your newsletters and "censor" your comments.  It may really protect you from making a fool of yourself.

Amusing side note:  When complaining about the incident at family dinner, my dad after hearing the story concluded someone ATE the fish.  *Note: He usually says eccentric things because he knows we find him amusing.