Things found on the floor of my classroom, week of September 7.

Food

Crushed hot Cheetos
Gum
Milk cartons, white and chocolate
Melted Jolly Rancher
Jolly Rancher wrapper
Top half of hamburger bun from school-provided lunch

Writing utensils

Crayons, Rose Art brand, mostly broken
Pencil, mechanical, no lead
Pencil, mechanical, full lead, full eraser (finders keepers!)
Pencil, wooden, Staples brand (2)
Pencil, wooden, Ticonderoga (the champagne of pencils)
Pencil, wooden, broken in three pieces
Pen, no ink
Pen, filched from my desk

Paper

Confetti from a dropped and spilled 3-hole punch
Crumpled 8.5×11 sheet, blank and inexplicably wet
Crumpled 8.5×11 sheet, Wednesday’s homework, unfinished
Crumpled loose leaf notebook, wide ruled, blank
Crumpled loose leaf notebook, college ruled, “Michael + Jakyrah” inside of a heart*
Pristine 8.5×11 sheet, Wednesday’s homework in pink pen, finished, no name
Torn half sheet, various numbers, Xs, Ys, and mathematical signs

Personal grooming

Barrette
Bobby pin
Comb
Hair elastics
Picks (2)
Rubber bands for braces
Tissues (at least 5), all used

Books and notebooks

Address book with phone numbers of various students listed (must have been dropped by a grandmother or someone time-travelling from 1990)
Books from my classroom library shelves (at least 20)
Books from school library (2)
Notebooks (5), some with language arts material, some with math
Planners (4), school-issued and required in order to gain bathroom privileges

Miscellaneous

Pencil shavings
Rubber band
Water bottles (2), one empty, one almost full of orange liquid
Shoe (1), Nike

* Names have been changed to protect the innocent and in love

Abby Zwart

Abby Zwart (’13) teaches high school English in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She spends her free time making lists of books she should read, cooking, and managing the post calvin.