James and the Lost Tooth

Today, James came to school with a look of consternation on his face. Something was up and I knew that in due time, I would hear all about it.

Sure enough, as soon as we started our Morning Meeting and began a lively discussion about our brand-new month of May, James blurted out, "TEACHER! My tooth is loose!"

The kids quickly abandoned the brand-new month of May and gathered around to peer inside James's mouth.

"Wiggle it," commanded Jovana.

"Yeah - wiggle it!" said Clinton.

I asked James if I could see his tooth and, sure enough, it was quite loose.

"Wow, James!" I said, "a loose tooth! How cool is that?"

I redirected the students and we were able to continue work on our calendar. We began a discussion of upcoming events and the number of days left in school. James continued to wiggle his tooth.

We began singing about the months of the year and then James interrupted us with a huge caterwaul and proclaimed that his tooth was BLOODY. He showed everybody two of his fingers, fresh from the inside of his mouth, glistening with wet spitty blood.

"Yes, James," I said calmly, "teeth will bleed when they are very loose." I asked the children to share out how many of them had lost teeth and how many had experienced blood. They all agreed that losing teeth was a bloody affair.

James was not convinced and stared at his fingers. I got him a tissue and told him he could use it to staunch the blood flow.

"Wipe your fingers, James," I said, trying once again to regain the students' attention and take notice of our brand new month and to begin counting down the days left in school.

"Teacher!" demanded James. "It's still bleeding!"

"Yes, James," I said, "it will do that for awhile. Just wiggle it and it will come out."

He looked alarmed. "YOU DO IT," he said, standing up.

"You want ME to pull out your tooth, James?" I asked.

James nodded very seriously.

"Are you sure?" I said, "maybe your mom will want to do this."

"No. YOU do it," said James.

The kids, sensing an event of great importance, gathered around and demanded that James open his mouth for consultation. There were many "ooohs" and "aaaahs" as the kids determined that YES, indeed, James had a loose tooth and TEACHER should definitely pull it out. Several of the students began telling old war stories about their own tooth-loss experiences. James's eyes widened a bit.

I pulled out a fresh tissue and asked James if he was sure. He nodded gravely. I approached his mouth with my tissued hand and he promptly leaned backward with alarm in his eyes.

"James," I said patiently, "if you want me to pull it out, I have to grab a hold of it."

He looked thoughtful, eyes still wide with concern, and then opened his mouth.

"Okay," he said.

I approached again. "Will it hurt?" he asked plaintively.

"Yes. A little bit." I put my thumb and forefinger together and indicated a space of about half a centimeter. "It will hurt this much."

James considered again and decided to go for it.

I used the tissue and expertly grasped the tooth and gave it a good yank. Out popped the tooth and the kids clammered around to get a good look.

"He's BLEEDING," yelled Carlos.

"Yeah, Teacher! He's bleeding!" shouted Justin and Manuel.

I instructed James to put the tissue in his mouth while I dug up a little tooth container. I snapped the container closed after depositing the tooth, then made James a necklace to carry around the lost tooth. I admonished him to be careful with it and warned him against losing it.

James sat on the rug in stunned silence and we slowly got back to normal.

A few minutes later, as we were taking attendance, James announced to the class that he was still bleeding.

"It will bleed for awhile, James," I said, continuing with my lesson.

About a minute passed. Suddenly, James looked up at me with total impatience.

"Is ANYBODY going to call an AMBULANCE?"