In many elementary classrooms, teachers sometimes find that they have at least one petty thief in the room. After years of practice, a seasoned teacher is usually able to do some subtle interrogation and successfully sleuth out the culprit.
One of my favorite first approaches in 2nd grade is the shock tactic. Under the pretense that it was most certainly an accident…it goes like this: “Oh my, ____’s candy is missing and it was right here on his desk! Did anyone see it on the floor and pick it up for him? Whoever picked it up, please give it to him now. Thanks so much!” At this point someone usually pulls it out of his desk and says something like, “I was going to give it to him.” And now the thief is identified and we have a suspect for the rest of the year. If that doesn’t work, I have other options up my sleeve.
This year, I had given Lauren her special birthday bag and a piece of taffy. She had innocently left the candy on her desk to eat later during lunch. She was totally surprised when it was missing a few minutes later. I did my usual detective work and soon found that I was up against a hardened veteran. Nothing worked and I had to concede that I was not smarter than a second grader. I tried the guilt treatment next– where you call a spade a spade. I said, “I am so sorry but it appears that we have a thief in our room. This makes me very sad. It also makes me mad because now we have to be careful about leaving our things out. I hope whoever took the candy gets a big toothache!”
After a few days, no one had admitted to the crime and I thought the incident had been forgotten. About a week later, Kacey came up, wriggling her tooth and saying she had a toothache. Her classmate Tony, who most assuredly but regretfully (for me, anyway) will receive a perfect attendance award this year, perked up his ears, raised his eyebrows, and made his way over to me. He lowered his voice and said matter of factly, “Teacher, I’m pretty sure the thief is Kacey… She has a toothache.”
