Animals in the Classroom - A Bright Idea Blog Post

Over the years, I have seen many different kinds animals in the classrooms I have visited. Primary classrooms usually have hamsters or guinea pigs. 

In MS/HS Science classrooms I have seen snakes, hissing cockroaches, mice, fish, frogs, lizards, turtles, and even tarantulas.

My Biology classroom pet was much more fluffy and interactive. I chose a rabbit and my son named him Dexter after the cartoon show "Dexter's Laboratory." Rabbits are very social and smart animals and make excellent pets. 

I bought him a large cage for when he needed to be away from the students and my husband and I made him a set of carpeted wooden stairs that led up to his cage. Under his stairway was his litter box. What?? Who didn't know that rabbits could be litter trained (feel free to admit it in the comments below!) Yes, rabbits are very smart and crave their human owners interaction. 

Now, I will admit that a couple of my students were not thrilled at first that I had a roaming rabbit in my classroom .... yes, I also said roaming!!  He was not locked up - it was very important to me that my students interacted with him, but they all (even those initially skiddish) warmed up to Dexter within a few days. 

Students volunteered to come in during their homeroom to feed him and play with him.... although none volunteered to clean out his litterbox every day! If a student was having a bad day, they would stop by and ask if they could pet and hang out with Dexter. I was truly amazed at the bond that I was seeing between my students and Dexter. It came to a point where I found that I could use Dexter as a calming agent in my classroom. I worked in an inner-city classroom while I had Dexter. Sometimes there were fights between students. When I noticed this occurring, I would immediately tell one of the students (usually the one most likely to outburst with a threat/or get physical) to go pet the bunny!  It worked so well, and quickly that I had other students stepping in when a classmate was becoming agitated in the classroom telling their classmate to "go pet the bunny."

Now, before all of you go out and buy bunnies for your classrooms - there are a few things to consider:
1. Get your administrations approval for any classroom pet.
2. Make sure that you have a personal budget set aside for pet needs: food, bedding, litter, toys, vet bills (bunnies need to be 'fixed').
3. Weekend and long weekend plans. I had a great custodial staff that stepped in on weekends to feed Dexter and change his litter. I will admit that I gave these wonderful people special treats to help me take care of him so that he did not have to leave his 'classroom home' on the weekends.
4. Have a sub/snow day plan - someone still needs to feed the classroom animals if school is closed or you are not there.
5. Have vacation and summer plans for your pet.
6. If you have a 'roaming' pet be sure to baby-proof your classroom. Bunnies love to chew through cords and anything left on the ground (including student's shoes and backpacks).

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