Invasion of the Fruit Flies

This summer, my kitchen was invaded by fruit flies. This is no hyperbole.

They appeared slowly, one or two here and there. Scouts and spies; that's all they were.

Then it happened. The full-scale invasion.

They were everywhere!

I set out small ramekins of wine. They didn't disappear so, like any good Google-abiding citizen, I turned to the internet to see what my other defenses were. I improved upon the original design (see picture) and was ready to attack.

After a few days, though, the flies were worse. I couldn't figure out why. I had cleaned the kitchen countless times. There were few flies near the trash. They weren't attracted to the drain, either.

Then I saw it. My lunch bag was sitting on top of the fridge, thoughtlessly abandoned on the last day of work. It didn't look bad - no food stains were inside. Nonetheless, I bleached it and set it out to dry.

The next day, the fruit flies were even worse. And then I saw it. My husband's lunch bag - also unused since his work hours changed. In it? The most rotten, decomposed, and disgusting banana you had ever seen.

Normally, I would have been furious at my husband! But instead of getting mad, the fruit flies made me realize how often we assume that we know why something is not working and then go about finding a solution in a routine way. All I needed to do to get rid of the flies was to investigate a little further.

As I battled the fruit flies, I was reminded of the importance of discovering the root cause of our actions and responses. Too often, I have looked to change the behavior of my students with a new incentive, a change of seats, a well-intentioned "what's going on here?" conversation. But I'm unsure of the likelihood that these actions caused real changes beyond my classroom - or affected my subsequent instruction. Killing the fruit flies one-by-one in a ramekin of wine was effective only so much; I spent more time on finding a solution than identifying the real problem. As I enter a new year, I'm going to challenge myself to see the things I'm not looking for and to find solutions that "get rid of the banana"!

What's not working in your classroom? What are the dynamics you don't see? What is lurking in your professional relationships that you haven't uncovered? I think it's important that we keep these questions in the back of our heads. I am excited to begin work with a new faculty at a new building so that they can keep me accountable for addressing these questions as we begin a new school year together.