I sure know how to pick 'em

It's been a little while since my last post.  Mostly, my life has been a bit crazy of late, and I didn't have time or the motivation to blog.  The school district is also coming off mid-winter break as well as a few snow days, so there hasn't been a lot of school to blog about lately.  Here is an update about life at school in the last several weeks.

A few weeks ago, I arrived at school and noticed a police car as well as a fire truck parked in front of the school.  I knew I was in for an exciting day.  I checked to make sure there wasn't a gathering of students and faculty outside somewhere before I headed inside the building.  Inside, I discovered that there was a gas leak somewhere in the building and we were ushering students into the commons and teachers were waiting in the lobby until there was more news.  Right before school was scheduled to begin, the principal explained to the teachers that there was a gas leak, but the school's equipment was pumping the gas outside and the building was safe for classes as usual for the rest of the day.  Amazingly, class pretty much did go as usual.  Luckily my lesson plans for the day were very simple (students working individually on computers) so I didn't lose before school prep time.  Besides a little extra chatter and reassurance to the students that the building was not going to explode (I hoped!), it turned out to be a pretty regular day.  It just started more exciting than most.

Then, last week I had my second unplanned fire alarm.  I had just sat down to enjoy my lunch when the sirens and flashing lights started.  I abandoned my warmed noodles and shuffled hurriedly to my classroom, grabbing the emergency folder and stealing a pencil for attendance from the nearest desk.  I didn't even pause to lock my door.  I followed the flow of students to the football field where I somehow managed to locate and recognize my homeroom class.  I managed to find all my students and confirm that they were in fact a part of my class.  And then, I waited.  First, we waited for the fire department to arrive.  Then we waited for the all clear from the administration.  My fellow teachers and I found some comfort that the whether had at least stopped raining while we maintained our chilly vigil.  Every twitch from the administration sent ripples of hope through waiting crowd of students and teachers.  Finally, they tell us all that's it safe to reenter the school.  Later, I found out that a student burned his cooking in home ec. (or "consumer living" as this school calls that class).  All this to say, I sure find the best days to be a sub!