March 2023 SOLC–Day 10
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“Mrs. Hogan, did you know there are thunder bees?” S asked.

“Thunder bees?” I repeated.

“Yeah, thunder bees.”

It was first thing in the morning and I was checking in with kids, taking attendance and doing all the mundane tasks that start the day. This sounded much more interesting. I put down my clipboard and gave S my full attention.

“I’ve never heard of thunder bees, S. Can you tell me more?”

“Well,” he said, “there are these thunder bees. They go up to the thunder when there’s thunder out.”

“Where did you learn about that?” I asked. (I was a bit doubtful about the existence of thunder bees, but willing to be convinced. I mean, I’m no bee expert. )

“I just saw it in a shark book.” (Okay, that wasn’t what I expected to hear.)

A quick bit of background information: S. is super imaginative and creative. He sometimes misinterprets things or presents odd ideas as facts. He’s the kind of kid you call on with your fingers crossed, as you are never quite sure what you’re going to get–interesting insights and/or facts or seriously expressed long-winded convoluted explanations that leave me trying to manage the expression on my face (and watching the clock). The other day, when lobbying to go to the nurse, he told me his throat felt funny. He was pretty sure there was either a “piece of cotton or a small animal in there.” Also, reading is really challenging for him. Really challenging.

As I was quite curious about his discovery of thunder bees in a book about sharks, I asked a little more.

“Which book was that?” I asked.

“It was a shark book. It was right in the back,” he said. “Wait, I’ll get it!”

He dashed away and returned triumphantly, book in hand, quickly turning to the back.

“See!”

I looked to where he pointed. Sure enough there was a picture with a bee and an ominous cloud and bolt of lightning.

The lights went on. I could see how this had all unfolded. (Though, to be fair, I did have a bit of an advantage, as I’d already suspected that thunder bees probably weren’t a real thing, and I’d read a few shark books in my day. )

“Oh, I can see what you were thinking, S.” I said. I pointed to the words next to the picture. “I bet we could read this and get a little bit more information.

We read it together, “A person is more likely to be killed by lightning or a bee sting than by a shark.”

“Oooooh,” he said, “Okay.” He took the book back and left me to go put it away.

The whole exchange was illuminating and I took a minute longer to think about it. About how S was making sense of his world. About the birth of misconceptions. About the insights we gain when we take a little extra time and ask a few questions.

I picked up my clipboard, the day ticked back up to full speed and rolled along, but to be honest I felt a little let down.

I’m still kind of wishing there were thunder bees.