My class is currently finishing a project we're doing on the Middle Ages. They were assigned to be roving reporters who have traveled to the past in order to find out how societies impact the future. The unit has been taking much longer than I expected and we're finally in the process of wrapping it up. The next couple of days will be spent on creating our newscasts and then we can move on to experience the fascinating world of the Crusades.

Last week they were getting their newscast transcripts together when one group, out of nowhere, started screaming and jumped away from their table. I asked them to calm down and tell me what was wrong and one girl managed to tell me that she saw a roach on the table.

Great. Remember what happened the last time I saw a roach?

The rest of the class (mostly girls) started screaming and jumped on their chairs. The boys were laughing, but I saw that they were uncomfortable too.

I demanded they all relax and quiet down. I looked at the table and couldn't see the roach. When I looked under the table it was there, chilling. I started looking around for something I could use to kill it. I couldn't take off my shoes quickly enough since I had boots on. The only other things around me were books and there was no way I was going to abuse a book like that. I'm trying to teach these kids that books are treasures and using one to kill a roach would have undone weeks of work. I managed to find a file folder that I use to put the kids' homework in, so I opted for that.

I took out their homework, folded the folder in half, and looked under the table. The roach was not moving from its post and so I had to shake the table a bit to get it excited. It finally moved and made its way to the top of the table, prompting another round of screams. I, of course, was screaming in my head but remained composed in front of the class. I yelled at the kids again to relax and took my folder and wiped out the roach.

It was squished onto the folder so I just threw the whole thing out. I got a paper towel, wiped off the remains, and got the class back on track.

The girls now think I'm awfully brave and the boys think I'm totally cool. During lunchtime I had a fleet of students, both mine and others, come to my door and ask if it's true that I killed a giant roach with my own bare hands. Others asked if it was true that I killed a battalion of roaches without blinking. It was as if I were Mickey Mouse in The Brave Little Tailor.