Adventures in Room 101

So one thing that they never teach you in ed school? What to do with 19 students locked in your classroom ALL day long.

After a horrific morning commute that involved being stuck behind a school bus AND a logging truck AND a tractor (only in south central Virginia, baby!) I went into the office to sign in and check my mailbox only to see four uniformed police officers. The principal informed me that I should not go to the copier and instead should proceed back to my classroom, collect any kids in the hallway I might see and direct them to an open classroom. He didn't give any explanation as to why, but he appeared very serious, so like a good soldier, I just did as I was told and headed off. On my way down the hallway I saw two other teachers that were there early directing traffic. I assumed it was some kind of drill at first, even though I thought it was odd that they would conduct a drill at 7:30 AM before school even started, but a part of me also immediately wondered "I wonder what kind of threat the school has gotten?"

By 8 AM, I had about 19 kids in my class, the majority of whom I did not know by name and did not have in my government or history classes. I ended up having those kids locked in my classroom for the ENTIRE school day aside from about 30 minutes for lunch. Due to the nature of the threat and the alert from the local sheriff's office, the school was in lockdown all day long. The students, who had not even been allowed to go to their lockers or get breakfast from the cafeteria, were stuck in a classroom with no books to read, no fun games and absolutely nothing to do. First. I just let them talk and went about planning what to do with the rest of the school day, which I incorrectly assumed would start after a delay. After about an hour of talking they got restless so I consequently spent the rest of the day entertaining a class full of 16-18 year olds. First, we watched Supersize Me on Hulu, then we played trivia games on Sporcle (during which I amazed them by naming 193/195 countries in the world), then we watched YouTube videos for an hour and then went back to Sporcle.

Aside from a couple complaints about when they could go to the bathroom and griping about not being able to get breakfast and having to wait 'til 1 PM to eat (which I would probably gripe about too), the kids all blew me away at how calm and patient they were. They didn't know me at all and were more acquaintances than friends with each other, but you never would have known that by the end of the day. I had them smiling and laughing by the end of the day and one even began taking pictures to "capture the memory" of her day in lockdown with Ms. Robson. I heard a couple of them at lunch brag about how much fun they were having with me, while others griped that their teacher was just at the computer working and ignoring them.

Supersize Me definitely got them all talking (especially the part where he described his sex life as "worthless" - thank God they were all juniors and seniors and not freshmen!) and I really actually enjoyed playing Sporcle with them. We would do something silly like Disney songs and then I would follow it up with a quiz on U.S presidents. Then name that Simpsons character followed by U.S state capitals. I'm not going to lie, I definitely loved playing trivia with my kids. Their eagerness to name all the Presidents was very fun to watch and so was their overall enthusiasm and competitiveness to "name them all". My only concern was that the two students I actually have in my regular classes who were in class with me all day might now see me as more of a "friend" than teacher. It's a line I have been very careful about crossing from day one. I am aware that I am closer to them in age than any other teacher they have and I know they like that. They talk to me and joke around a lot, but when I get up in front of the classroom, I try to convey that I'm all business. I hope an hour of laughing at silly YouTube clips has not somehow undermined my authority. I'm not sure what else I was supposed to do in the situation. I could have gotten a lot of grading done, but I left it all at home. I could have ignored them and planned lessons all day, but I think I would have heard a lot more complaining and restlessness. As it was, they had a completely "free" day at school where - aside from naming some states and presidents - they didn't have to do anything academic. Honestly, I really just didn't want to ignore them. By the end of the day, we were all very relaxed, but I'd imagine it was a very scary start to the school day for a 16 year old - cops and a gun sniffing dog all over your school, teachers who won't answer questions, evasive statements from the principal.

After 8 days off of school due to snow at the start of this month, missing another instructional day was not exactly ideal today, but I definitely understand the administration's decision to err on the side of caution. A threat was made to someone at the school and they took every precaution to keep the students safe. I know parents will be up in arms over what happened, but it seems to me like a situation where the administration can't win. If they did nothing, people would have been up irate and if they did more and had gone ahead and closed school, people probably would be upset too. It seems like a lose-lose all around, but I commend them for taking the proper precautions.

Today's events definitely got me thinking, especially this morning when I was standing in the hallway and directing kids into classroom, about how different the teaching profession is now vs 15 years ago. School shootings now have become a sad reality in America. I don't know that if 15 years ago the administration would have taken such extreme precautions. I don't think the thought ever crossed teachers' minds "what would I do if a gunman entered the room?" But when I was standing out in the hallway this morning directing students into classrooms with the 6 other teachers on my floor, it occurred to me that - at that moment - we were all in charge of their safety. The well-being of the kids often gets lost in all the focus on lessons and testing and report cards. I don't often think about what I would do in extreme situations at school. We had a weird incident that tested me earlier this school year, about a month into my teaching career. A weird chime went off on the loudspeakers and, not knowing what alert it was, I erred on the side of caution, locked the door and shut off the lights. It turns out all the teachers were as confused by the weird chime as me, but many had done the same exact thing and erred on the side of caution. One even went so far as to instruct all her students to move to the side wall, as we usually do in lockdown drills.

It's a sad reality that these are things teachers today have to think about. I know the safety of your students should always be paramount, but my first instinct when I think about the safety of my students is creating a safe classroom environment. It was a shock for me when I started student teaching to learn that every school now has an SRO - or school resource officer - in the building at all times. We never had any kind of school police or security officer that I knew of in my high school in New York. I don't think as a student I ever sat in the classroom and wondered what I would do if a gunman came to the door. It's awful! And it is something I never seriously thought about in all my time at education school. But for the first hour or so of lockdown this morning, my head was certainly spinning with all kinds of "what ifs?". By that time, I understood the situation and was clear that there was no longer a real threat to the school or students and the lockdown was in place more to find the student in question than anything else, but I still couldn't help but wonder. I was trying to figure out what piece of furniture would be best to barricade the door with, how many students could get out the window at once. My classroom is the last one in the hallway, very close to a door. I was trying to figure out whether that was a good or bad thing, as it is the door most students use to enter the building also. I guess it's sort of like how my mother, a former flight attendant, used to always make me check for the nearest exit whenever I boarded an airplane. There's a very small chance something will happen, but you have to be prepared. Sadly, I think the odds of a violent incident occurring at school are much greater than an airplane crash.