bad hair day?

In what I originally perceived as a flash of brilliance, I decided to use my crazy morning routine as a method for teaching my students about time. I dug out the old Susy clock from the cabinet, turned the giant plastic minute hand until it cranked itself (dragging the hour hand along with it) to 7:00 and asked, "What time did Ms. Brown wake up this morning?"

I neglected to mention the fact that Ms. Brown's alarm actually went off at 6:30, 6:35, 6:35. and 6:58 before the final alarm kicked her out of bed with guilt for potentially waking her roommates with the repeated snooze button naps.

Fast forward to 7:55 "What time did Ms. Brown accidentally simultaneously lock herself out of her house and her car this morning?"

Slide on up to 8:00 "What time is Ms. Brown supposed to be at work?"

Crank that minute hand some more. 8:14 "What time did Ms. Brown actually arrive at work?"

The kids are cracking up at this point. They love my Amelia Bedelia-like stories. I'm enjoying their laughter too, until one girl, who shall remain nameless, raises her hand and asks (totally seriously):

"Ms. Brown, is that why your hair looks so messy?"

Leave it to the third graders to tell me the truth.