Funny Funny Funny

Alright, picture this.  It is Christmas morning and things look about like this(except for not quite because this picture was taken before Christmas morning):

Everyone is sitting in the living room and we are taking turns opening presents.  All of a sudden a present starts to move around under the tree. YES. I said that a box was moving around under the tree. 

PAUSE STORY.

Watch this video:



And now watch this one:

Now, put two and two together.

RESUME STORY

The moving box was for me!  I opened it to find.....this:

I had no clue what it was at first, but soon came to find out that I was the proud new owner of my very own robot ball (aka Sphero).  It turns out that dad can buy pretty fun gifts.

You can do a lot of really cool things with it, but the best entertainment comes from trying to trick people.  Being the teacher of 26 students this was a lot of fun!

One morning I placed the Sphero under a metal tin on my counter.  While I was checking of the students spelling lists I sat at my guided reading table with one hand underneath on my iPhone controller and the other up top grabbing spelling lists and checking them.  I moved the robot.  the kid who was getting his spelling test checked was shocked! He couldn't believe his eyes.  He got the attention of the person behind him and told him to look.  I moved it again.  Within 20 seconds all 26 kids were out of there seats crowded around the counter.  they were SO excited and confused.  They wanted to lift up the tin to see what it was but I wouldn't let them.  I told them that they had to keep working.  I moved the robot periodically.  When everyone was done copying their spelling list I gave each student a blank piece of paper and had them infer (using the knowledge that they had and what they had already observed) what was under the tin.  A lot of them guessed it was a mouse, I also had someone guess glowing pink elephant (because they could see it glowing pink from under the tin).  when I told them that an elephant couldn't fit under the small tin they told me that it was a miniature glowing pink elephant.  Once everyone had made their inference and we talked about them and whether they were good inferences or not....I showed them the Shpero.  I rolled it all around the carpet and a few of them couldn't;t help but chase it. 

Good times!