Today was the last day of school, and I was lucky enough to have a job! I was asked weeks ago to teach for my former cooperating teacher because she had made plans for the end of the school year before they had to add a week of snow days to the end of the school year.
It was so strange back in the room where my teaching career started almost three years ago. I remember coming to meet her for the first time. The school librarian (who happens to have the same name as my husband:) took me through the halls to her classroom. I was nervous, but very excited to start my last step to finishing college and getting my teaching degree. I have been back to that classroom several times since finishing student teaching. Each time gives me little sense of nostalgia remembering the times where I would be sitting at the back desk every day.
Appropriately, today was the moving up ceremony celebrating the ninth graders (ninth grade is the top of jr. high in this school district). It was an hour of speeches, awards, and performance by several talented students (included a boy who demonstrated escaping from a straitjacket!) Most profound to me was the loan faculty speech from one of the math teachers. She asked students to think of all the pictures they have with strangers dotting the background. She explained how you don't know how many people might have a picture with you in the background. That each person at the school has witnessed incredibly moments of victory and sorrow often only as background characters. You cannot always be in the spotlight and sometimes have to be in the background. Yet our choices in the background can still have a profound and lasting impact on those around us. Every day we can encourage or damage someone through our simple words and actions. These small things add up to say more about who we truly are as individuals then are actions and words when everyone is watching.
These words truly resonated with me today. I have spent the last year and a half as a background support character in the school system. At the end of the day, there were no students that wanted to give me a hug and wish me a good summer. No yearbooks to sign, no pictures or presents waiting for me at my desk. There was just me, making the conscious decision to teach the best I could and be the best positive influence in student's lives for the day. The journey was never easy, but I did meet a lot of amazing people along the way and hopefully made some people feel welcome and heard.
In true end-of-the-year fashion, I do want to say thanks to a few people. Although they will probably never read this, it still doesn't hurt to put these good wishes out into cyberspace. Thank you to all the teachers who trusted me enough to request my presents in you classrooms. I'm not sure why you picked me over the dozens of more qualified substitutes (I mean you, 7th grade science teacher!) but I sincerely appreciate feeling like a little part of your classroom. Thank you to the students that recognized me when I walked your halls from past sub assignments. Although I rarely could remember your name, your recognition meant the world to me in a very thankless job. Thanks to the teachers who welcomed me into your conversations in the teacher's lounge and to the teachers that helped me when technology, lesson plans, or other strange acts of failure would arise. You are the people that make me feel like a real teacher and miss being part of a supportive staff.
Thanks to my husband, who continually told me how amazing and awesome I am even when I didn't feel like I deserved it. You love, support, and encouragement has made these long months seem worth it. I can't tell you how much your words have meant to me and helped me after difficult days.
Finally, a thanks to you dear reader. It's nice to know that someone is reading this and many of you understand the trials of a difficult job. Thanks to the comments and general well-wishes and support throughout this last year and a half. To the strangers who have read and even subscribed (hi Amy!) I feel honored that you would take the time to read my silly words. This will likely be my last blog as I am leaving the country to work teaching English in Japan (a new blog is coming as soon as I know where I am placed!) As I will no longer be a substitute, my chronicles are finished.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Keeping Busy
Some days, I have A LOT of free time as a sub. On these days, I usually try and help out around the school, but sometimes there's just nothing to do but hang out in my classroom. Early on I learned to always be prepared with something to occupy my time. Luckily, I usually have access to a computer (though with some filtering). The following are some of my time wasters.
A few years ago, I took up knitting. I quickly learned that knitting is an awesome activity for a substitute. I often bring my projects with me to my classroom. Knitting is the perfect activity for the days when I'm monitoring a work day or when the students are watching a movie. I found that a mindless knitting pattern keeps me occupied enough to avoid absolute boredom, but leaves me present enough in the classroom to actually notice and anticipate possible classroom problems. Knitting is a better activity for me than reading in the classroom because I have the tendency to get completely engrossed in the story and totally tune-out my surroundings. This year, I finished a baby blanket, several hats, two scarves, and other odd assortments of knitting projects.
I have also found a number of websites that keep me occupied at work. I always get pretty excited when I find a useful website that isn't blocked by the school districts web filter. I've read through several blogs and web comics during my time subbing. Some of my favorite sites include XKCD, Order of the Stick, and Hyperbole and a Half. I often use grooveshark.com either to play quietly to attempt to control student volume during work days. I also usually use grooveshark to play my current favorite artist Florence + the Machine to combat the eerie quiet during my prep period.
Finally, there is the classic reading of a book. I usually only read during my prep period or to be an example to the students when they're supposed to be reading. Recently, I read through the entire Twilight series during my spare time as a sub. A couple years ago I read the first Twilight book and wasn't terribly impressed. I felt that the story was pretty slow and the writing incredibly repetitive. At the time, I felt like it was important to read since many of my students were reading the book and becoming quite obsessed. After slugging through the first book, I felt I could at least have a little bit of an opinion of the book. I told friends that I intended to finish the rest of them eventually; I just never got the motivation to read the other three. A few months ago, I was reading up on "Macbeth" before I had to teach about the play for one of my jobs. While on Sparknotes, I stumbled across this blog. Intrigued, I started reading through his thoughts and opinions about the first book. I continued reading post after post during that long day (I had an extra-long prep period at this school that day). During that two-day job, I read at least half of his posts about the first book. Finally, I had my motivation to continue reading the books. I picked up the second one so I could read it along with the blog posts. I found Dan's writing witty and intriguing. He had several of the same problems with the books and many more questions than I had. I'm not sure I could have finished reading the last book without this blog. I am happy that I read through them all, but even more happy that I finished reading them!
One more day of work tomorrow. Excited for the summer and excited to move on to the next chapter of my teaching career.
A few years ago, I took up knitting. I quickly learned that knitting is an awesome activity for a substitute. I often bring my projects with me to my classroom. Knitting is the perfect activity for the days when I'm monitoring a work day or when the students are watching a movie. I found that a mindless knitting pattern keeps me occupied enough to avoid absolute boredom, but leaves me present enough in the classroom to actually notice and anticipate possible classroom problems. Knitting is a better activity for me than reading in the classroom because I have the tendency to get completely engrossed in the story and totally tune-out my surroundings. This year, I finished a baby blanket, several hats, two scarves, and other odd assortments of knitting projects.
I have also found a number of websites that keep me occupied at work. I always get pretty excited when I find a useful website that isn't blocked by the school districts web filter. I've read through several blogs and web comics during my time subbing. Some of my favorite sites include XKCD, Order of the Stick, and Hyperbole and a Half. I often use grooveshark.com either to play quietly to attempt to control student volume during work days. I also usually use grooveshark to play my current favorite artist Florence + the Machine to combat the eerie quiet during my prep period.
Finally, there is the classic reading of a book. I usually only read during my prep period or to be an example to the students when they're supposed to be reading. Recently, I read through the entire Twilight series during my spare time as a sub. A couple years ago I read the first Twilight book and wasn't terribly impressed. I felt that the story was pretty slow and the writing incredibly repetitive. At the time, I felt like it was important to read since many of my students were reading the book and becoming quite obsessed. After slugging through the first book, I felt I could at least have a little bit of an opinion of the book. I told friends that I intended to finish the rest of them eventually; I just never got the motivation to read the other three. A few months ago, I was reading up on "Macbeth" before I had to teach about the play for one of my jobs. While on Sparknotes, I stumbled across this blog. Intrigued, I started reading through his thoughts and opinions about the first book. I continued reading post after post during that long day (I had an extra-long prep period at this school that day). During that two-day job, I read at least half of his posts about the first book. Finally, I had my motivation to continue reading the books. I picked up the second one so I could read it along with the blog posts. I found Dan's writing witty and intriguing. He had several of the same problems with the books and many more questions than I had. I'm not sure I could have finished reading the last book without this blog. I am happy that I read through them all, but even more happy that I finished reading them!
One more day of work tomorrow. Excited for the summer and excited to move on to the next chapter of my teaching career.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Noisy 7th Graders are noisy
The beep rang out over the computers. The beep of the PA system. "Please excuse this interruption," starts the schools assistant principal. I demand quiet from all the 7th graders as the principal continues. "We are going to go into a modified lockdown. Please have all students return to their classrooms. Teachers, you may continue to teach as normal. My students were in the computer lab in the shared space of the seventh grade pod. I had no idea whether the computer lab would be ok in this "modified lockdown" situation. I figured with language like lockdown, I better not risk it. I tell students to leave their computers and stuff where it is, and go into the classroom now! I get all the students into the room, take attendance just in case, and immediately wonder what I should do now. I riffle through the pages of my substitute folder only to find the information on lockdown procedure to be quite vague. Basically it said, lock the classroom door and take students to the "designated area of the classroom." Designated are? It sort of made sense because this school had LARGE open windows that could never be covered in a timely manner in the event of an emergency. But this was a modified lockdown. There didn't seem to be any immediate danger, just some weird unexplained situation. I checked my e-mail on the slim hope that someone from the office might have thought to add the subs to an e-mail explaining the situation. No such luck. I remembered also that I was not issued a door key as usual at the beginning of the school day. They were all out of sub keys for my pod, so I had to have another teacher unlock my door. I quickly planned that in the event that a "typical" lockdown was later called for, I would have to run to a neighboring teacher to retrieve a key to lock my door.
In the meantime, my current charges were chatting away, unconcerned about the unexpected break in their class period. I watched the clock, worried as the end of class ticked closer and closer. What was I supposed to do at the end of the class period? Would someone remember I was a sub and call me to let me know what to do? These a millions more questions raced through my brain as the seconds continued to fly by. Finally, five minutes before the end of class, the assistant principal's voice beeped through the PA system again. "At this time we are calling the end to the modified lockdown, classes will continue as normal for the rest of the day." I let my students out of the classroom to retrieve their belongings and log off their computers.
Classes did continue as normal. I had several classes of very noisy seventh graders (a Friday with a sub at the end of the school year! Thank goodness it wasn't sunny out too!) At lunch, I asked the other teacher's if this was a planned lockdown drill that they forgot to tell me about or if they knew what had happened. The first teacher didn't know, but assumed the school needed to complete their quota of lockdown drills for the year. A second teacher, however, saw a police officer with a dog in the main hall when he went to close the large pod doors. Suddenly the events of the morning made a little more sense. If the police came to the school with the drug sniffing dogs, they would not want students to be out roaming the halls. No danger, just confusion. And I have yet another experience as a teacher to check off my list. I think the only thing left is teaching sex-ed
In the meantime, my current charges were chatting away, unconcerned about the unexpected break in their class period. I watched the clock, worried as the end of class ticked closer and closer. What was I supposed to do at the end of the class period? Would someone remember I was a sub and call me to let me know what to do? These a millions more questions raced through my brain as the seconds continued to fly by. Finally, five minutes before the end of class, the assistant principal's voice beeped through the PA system again. "At this time we are calling the end to the modified lockdown, classes will continue as normal for the rest of the day." I let my students out of the classroom to retrieve their belongings and log off their computers.
Classes did continue as normal. I had several classes of very noisy seventh graders (a Friday with a sub at the end of the school year! Thank goodness it wasn't sunny out too!) At lunch, I asked the other teacher's if this was a planned lockdown drill that they forgot to tell me about or if they knew what had happened. The first teacher didn't know, but assumed the school needed to complete their quota of lockdown drills for the year. A second teacher, however, saw a police officer with a dog in the main hall when he went to close the large pod doors. Suddenly the events of the morning made a little more sense. If the police came to the school with the drug sniffing dogs, they would not want students to be out roaming the halls. No danger, just confusion. And I have yet another experience as a teacher to check off my list. I think the only thing left is teaching sex-ed
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Finally
Yesterday I finally did it. I have now been to every school in my school district. Well, I've been to all the "normal" schools. Yesterday I made it to the last of the twenty-seven elementary schools in the district. I have also gone to all seven junior high schools and all four high schools. My school district also has several alternative schools call choice schools. There are eleven of these schools around the district. These schools also aren't your typical alternative schools. Each school has a different focus and curriculum is set for each school to match their focus. For example, there is Environmental School (self explanatory) Renaissance School (focus on the arts) and International School (focus on multi-cultural aspects). Some of these schools have their own building while other schools are housed within another school. Each of these schools also has different age ranges. There are a few for elementary students, several for junior high students, and several for high school students. Unfortunately, I have only made it to six of the choice schools.
I feel quite accomplished making it to all the regular schools. I hoped when I started subbing that I would somehow make it to all the schools before I left. As this school year is winding down, I didn't think I would have time to make it to the last few schools on my list. I still wish I could make it to the last of the choice schools, but because there are few teachers at those schools, they are quite difficult to get a sub job there. So now I celebrate my current accomplishments! I also rejoice that there are only fourteen more school days left.
I feel quite accomplished making it to all the regular schools. I hoped when I started subbing that I would somehow make it to all the schools before I left. As this school year is winding down, I didn't think I would have time to make it to the last few schools on my list. I still wish I could make it to the last of the choice schools, but because there are few teachers at those schools, they are quite difficult to get a sub job there. So now I celebrate my current accomplishments! I also rejoice that there are only fourteen more school days left.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Part of the Experience
Every now and then I get to be part of something wonderful. I get a glimpse into the lives of students and see true learning and true understanding. Last week I witnessed in a roundabout way one of these moments. I substituted as a band teacher at one of the local high schools. At this school, all of the arts teachers shared an office space in one long little hallway outside the choir and band practice rooms. I was in that office between classes with the choir, orchestra, and drama teachers. During one of my planning periods the drama teacher read the choir teacher something one of her senior drama students wrote. The student wrote, "When you are doing something that is a passion, it's not about being the star but about being able to be part of the experience." The drama teacher further explained that this student had this epiphany while at an college interview. The interviewer asked the student about her extra curricular activities and wondered why she would continue to be involved in theatre productions without ever having a staring role. The two teachers were ecstatic reading the student's response. One teacher even said, "She gets it!" This student understands that art is not about getting the solo, getting the lead, or even getting all the attention. Art is about doing your best and being a part of the artistic process.
These moments are the reason that teachers teach. Teaching is about watching students understand life and understand something more about themselves. Often these ah ha moments aren't even about something in the curriculum. These are the moments that just happen. As teachers, it's important to remember to let these moments happen, even if it means getting a little behind in your lesson plans.
These moments are the reason that teachers teach. Teaching is about watching students understand life and understand something more about themselves. Often these ah ha moments aren't even about something in the curriculum. These are the moments that just happen. As teachers, it's important to remember to let these moments happen, even if it means getting a little behind in your lesson plans.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Rollercoaster
It's been awhile again. I've found it difficult to find the motivation to write something. Also, most of my days are starting to feel pretty typical, even the more colorful days! Today finally has given me something that feels "blog worthy."
Today I subbed at one of the local junior high schools. I've subbed for this teacher several times and now know the typical classroom routine. This teacher does everything through power point and in the past has left me her login and password so that I can access her files and power point. This morning, the login password didn't work. I tried to mess around with the login a bit to see if she just missed the number or made another silly mistake, but none of my guesses produced a successful login. I knew from the printed notes she left me that there was some sort of video that the power point had a link to. I then logged onto the computer under my account hoping I could find some information or a link on the district website or perhaps a personal classroom website. Again, even my technical wizardry couldn't produce the needed video for the days class. Now in a slight panic, with only ten minutes before class started, I attempted to make a plan. I looked through the worksheet they were supposed to fill out during the video and it seemed like the book could maybe provide some of the answers. It would have to do for now, and perhaps the first period class may know more as to where to find the needed video.
All too soon, the first period kids trooped into the room. I quickly took attendance and explained the situation to the class. Luckily these students were eager to help and one of them bravely volunteered to log onto the student site to see if the needed link was there. Unfortunately this only led me back to the same information I had found before school. My next course of action was to hand out the worksheets, assign the reading and hoped it all would work out. In the meantime, I sent the class TA to find one of the other science teachers that might know more about where the missing video was located. A helpful teacher showed up at about the same time the students realized that the book wasn't very helpful in answering the worksheet questions because it didn't quite present the information in the same way. So now I have thirty confused seventh graders with nothing to do, one helpful science teacher trying to work his technological wizardry on the computer, and one frazzled me. Luckily the helpful teacher knew what it was I was looking for, even though he couldn't find it on the computer. He then quickly got the needed disc from another teacher and I tried to get the students back to work. Only for some reason, I can't find the right presentation on the disc. I look around the information on the disc, I try to play a few of the slides, but nothing is quite right. I again send the TA to ask the teacher who loaned us the disc if there is another disc with the right information. A second helpful teacher arrives who informs me that the disc loads different material when you click "intermediate" or "advanced" on the loading screen and I apparently clicked the wrong one. Finally I get the right video going and the students successfully answer all the questions for their worksheet! Wheww. And that was only period one.
The second period class I have to try and piece together what the rest of the days assignments are supposed to be. I walk them through the video and worksheet and then assign them some of the reading and reflection questions from the book and then give them time to work on another worksheet. By the end of the second period class I'm starting to get the flow of the class and decide that I've given the students enough work time that the second worksheet should be homework for tomorrow. Third period also proceeds without incident. At this point I'm starting to feel pretty good about my day as I go into lunch.
Then, fourth period happened. Because I had already subbed for this teacher before, I knew there was a fairly difficult student in the fourth period class. Ryan had worked pretty hard in my previous days to push my buttons and I knew today would probably be the same. As soon as the video started, I noticed him folding paper stars and not really working on the worksheet. At this point I wasn't too worried because he wasn't really bothering anyone else. When I assigned the book-work, he continued his paper folding and then decided to distract his neighbor as well. I tried to give Ryan options: either do his work or he could go to the office. Unfortunately, the office seemed to be an enjoyable option for Ryan instead of motivation to work. I could tell that his neighbor would get work done if he didn't have Ryan distracting him. I decided to try and move Ryan to see if that would help the situation. This sort of worked. Ryan's neighbor did finally started working and actually finished almost everything (yeah!). Ryan, however, did not get anything accomplished. Instead he started making distracting noises to try and get attention from the rest of the class. I decided to try and ignore the behavior to see if it would disappear. Ignoring worked to an extent, and then Ryan tried bigger means of getting attention like falling off his seat. After about half of the class time though, students were really trying to work on their assignment so they wouldn't have any homework. No one was paying attention to Ryan, so he started calling students names to try and get their attention. I was so happy when these students were so engrossed in their work that they didn't even look at Ryan. At this, Ryan seemed to give up and just doodled and occasionally made a week effort to try and get attention again.
Then, I had my last class of the day. I'm not sure I ever have enjoyed a science class so much (except for maybe the "lab" in high school where we got to make ice cream sundaes). This class got really into the video explaining earth's layers. Together as a class we made a lot of food analogies about the layers. I think my favorite thing that came out of this was a student noting that basalt (the main component of the oceanic crust) was like B-A salt. It quickly became a class joke that the salt was BA! We also compared continental crust and oceanic crust to pizza crust (deep dish and regular crust!). It was a bit surreal going from such a hard classroom management class to one that was so easy. This is one of the reasons why I often find teaching high school and junior high easier than subbing for elementary schools. With the older students, I get a whole new class after fifty minutes. With elementary students, if there's a difficult student, I have to deal with him all day long! Mostly, though, I'm glad my day ended with a positive classroom experience.
Today I subbed at one of the local junior high schools. I've subbed for this teacher several times and now know the typical classroom routine. This teacher does everything through power point and in the past has left me her login and password so that I can access her files and power point. This morning, the login password didn't work. I tried to mess around with the login a bit to see if she just missed the number or made another silly mistake, but none of my guesses produced a successful login. I knew from the printed notes she left me that there was some sort of video that the power point had a link to. I then logged onto the computer under my account hoping I could find some information or a link on the district website or perhaps a personal classroom website. Again, even my technical wizardry couldn't produce the needed video for the days class. Now in a slight panic, with only ten minutes before class started, I attempted to make a plan. I looked through the worksheet they were supposed to fill out during the video and it seemed like the book could maybe provide some of the answers. It would have to do for now, and perhaps the first period class may know more as to where to find the needed video.
All too soon, the first period kids trooped into the room. I quickly took attendance and explained the situation to the class. Luckily these students were eager to help and one of them bravely volunteered to log onto the student site to see if the needed link was there. Unfortunately this only led me back to the same information I had found before school. My next course of action was to hand out the worksheets, assign the reading and hoped it all would work out. In the meantime, I sent the class TA to find one of the other science teachers that might know more about where the missing video was located. A helpful teacher showed up at about the same time the students realized that the book wasn't very helpful in answering the worksheet questions because it didn't quite present the information in the same way. So now I have thirty confused seventh graders with nothing to do, one helpful science teacher trying to work his technological wizardry on the computer, and one frazzled me. Luckily the helpful teacher knew what it was I was looking for, even though he couldn't find it on the computer. He then quickly got the needed disc from another teacher and I tried to get the students back to work. Only for some reason, I can't find the right presentation on the disc. I look around the information on the disc, I try to play a few of the slides, but nothing is quite right. I again send the TA to ask the teacher who loaned us the disc if there is another disc with the right information. A second helpful teacher arrives who informs me that the disc loads different material when you click "intermediate" or "advanced" on the loading screen and I apparently clicked the wrong one. Finally I get the right video going and the students successfully answer all the questions for their worksheet! Wheww. And that was only period one.
The second period class I have to try and piece together what the rest of the days assignments are supposed to be. I walk them through the video and worksheet and then assign them some of the reading and reflection questions from the book and then give them time to work on another worksheet. By the end of the second period class I'm starting to get the flow of the class and decide that I've given the students enough work time that the second worksheet should be homework for tomorrow. Third period also proceeds without incident. At this point I'm starting to feel pretty good about my day as I go into lunch.
Then, fourth period happened. Because I had already subbed for this teacher before, I knew there was a fairly difficult student in the fourth period class. Ryan had worked pretty hard in my previous days to push my buttons and I knew today would probably be the same. As soon as the video started, I noticed him folding paper stars and not really working on the worksheet. At this point I wasn't too worried because he wasn't really bothering anyone else. When I assigned the book-work, he continued his paper folding and then decided to distract his neighbor as well. I tried to give Ryan options: either do his work or he could go to the office. Unfortunately, the office seemed to be an enjoyable option for Ryan instead of motivation to work. I could tell that his neighbor would get work done if he didn't have Ryan distracting him. I decided to try and move Ryan to see if that would help the situation. This sort of worked. Ryan's neighbor did finally started working and actually finished almost everything (yeah!). Ryan, however, did not get anything accomplished. Instead he started making distracting noises to try and get attention from the rest of the class. I decided to try and ignore the behavior to see if it would disappear. Ignoring worked to an extent, and then Ryan tried bigger means of getting attention like falling off his seat. After about half of the class time though, students were really trying to work on their assignment so they wouldn't have any homework. No one was paying attention to Ryan, so he started calling students names to try and get their attention. I was so happy when these students were so engrossed in their work that they didn't even look at Ryan. At this, Ryan seemed to give up and just doodled and occasionally made a week effort to try and get attention again.
Then, I had my last class of the day. I'm not sure I ever have enjoyed a science class so much (except for maybe the "lab" in high school where we got to make ice cream sundaes). This class got really into the video explaining earth's layers. Together as a class we made a lot of food analogies about the layers. I think my favorite thing that came out of this was a student noting that basalt (the main component of the oceanic crust) was like B-A salt. It quickly became a class joke that the salt was BA! We also compared continental crust and oceanic crust to pizza crust (deep dish and regular crust!). It was a bit surreal going from such a hard classroom management class to one that was so easy. This is one of the reasons why I often find teaching high school and junior high easier than subbing for elementary schools. With the older students, I get a whole new class after fifty minutes. With elementary students, if there's a difficult student, I have to deal with him all day long! Mostly, though, I'm glad my day ended with a positive classroom experience.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
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!
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!
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