How I survived my first lockdown as a teacher
Sooooooooo.....I wrote this back in October and am only just now getting around to posting it here lol
Today was certainly an interesting day. I say interesting because I don't know what other word to use, and I don't think any other word can convey how I feel. My day started out fairly normal, all I was concerned about was whether or not I was prepared for the day and if my students were going to behave. We had been on a trip the day before, and my administrator was appalled at the behavior of the entire grade. For the most part, those students who were under my supervision were well behaved, but apparently some of the students on one of the other buses were throwing items out of the windows and at passing cars and were misbehaving at the theater we were at. *rolls eyes* But in any case, today we had to write letters of apology to the administrators as well as to the people at the theater. My students were not happy with this requirement, but I persisted and told them that even if they were behaving, they were still required to write a letter.
My day went well until I reached the end of my 6-9th period class. It was about six minutes before the bell was supposed to ring and the students had already been in my class for nearly and hour and a half when the intercom came on. We were informed that we were to keep our students in our class until we were told otherwise. My mind immediately went to about a million different scenarios---from a fight in the cafeteria, which is right down the hall from my classroom, to more sinister imaginings. Like any teacher though, I kept my cool as I instructed my students to stay in their seats and continue with the letters that they were writing. They ignored me until I told them I would find out what was going on but only if they behaved.
I poked my head out of the door and saw some of the other teachers in my hallway doing the same thing. We looked at each other, all of us with the same confused looks. One of the administrators came down the hallway, almost running and called to us. "We're on lock down! Keep the kids until you get the all clear." We all pulled our heads inside our classrooms and locked our doors. Everything was quiet until we heard sirens coming up the driveway of the school, several police cars came tearing onto the school grounds. Some of them came right up to the doors and others stayed at the end of the driveway.
There was no hope of keeping my kids on task after that, so I assigned extra credit work to them and promised some of the more unruly kids that I would put their extra credit assignments towards their first quarter grades. It seemed to work, but I noticed that they kept turning their eyes towards the windows when they thought I wasn't looking at them.
As the clocks edged farther into tenth period, more police cars and a fire engine pulled into the driveway. Some of the teachers, including myself, stuck their heads out of their classroom doors again. We looked at each other with the same looks of confusion that we had initially given each other. Now the administrators were sending the students who were in the cafeteria out into the halls. We were told to let them into our classroom and keep them there until we were told otherwise. As students rushed down the hall, my colleagues and I pulled them into our classrooms. My own students were trying to peek past me into the hallway, but I corralled them back in. I didn't know any of the students that I had pulled in, but what else could I have done?
I met the eye of the teacher across the hall from me. "Do we get combat pay for this?" she asked as she pulled kids into her room.
I laughed. "Are we taking any kids into our rooms? Or just the ones that belong to us?" I asked back.
She shrugged. "I'm taking in any that I can and damn the consequences." I nodded, that's what I was doing too.
Some of my students were a little frightened by the proceedings, but I kept assuring them that everything was going to be fine, that they were going to be fine. Many of my students had their cell phones out, but I didn't bother reprimanding them for it, what was the point? They were texting their friends and getting different versions of rumors of what was happening in the school. Some were saying it was a fight, others were saying that masked men had stormed into the cafeteria with guns. No one had any clue what was happening in the school.
We spent a total of 2 1/2 hours in lock-down before we got the all clear from the principal to let our students leave. After a cursory look in the hallway to see whether the other teachers were allowing their students to leave, a move that was echoed by all of the other teachers in the hall, I let my students go. I stood in the hallway as they were dismissed, keeping a careful eye on all of them. All after school activities were canceled for the day and all students were required to leave the building. They were herded and reminded by the hall monitors to make sure that they all actually left.
I decided to call it a day. There was no way I was going to get anything done, as worked up as I was from the experience. As I was walking down the hall, I fell in behind two police officers who were carrying a roll of caution tape, and were discussing the incident. I wasn't able to listen to a lot, but apparently, a group of people in dark clothes and masks came into the cafeteria and seemed to be a threat. They were apprehended and were waiting in the police cars outside.
I hope that I will get the rest of the facts at the next faculty meeting or something because I would like to know what really happened. All in all though, I'm glad that everything turned out okay and that everyone made it out of the building alright.
UPDATE: so here's the scoop, some teenagers who didn't go to the school got in and wanted to attack another kid...they obviously failed and were apprehended.....
Today was certainly an interesting day. I say interesting because I don't know what other word to use, and I don't think any other word can convey how I feel. My day started out fairly normal, all I was concerned about was whether or not I was prepared for the day and if my students were going to behave. We had been on a trip the day before, and my administrator was appalled at the behavior of the entire grade. For the most part, those students who were under my supervision were well behaved, but apparently some of the students on one of the other buses were throwing items out of the windows and at passing cars and were misbehaving at the theater we were at. *rolls eyes* But in any case, today we had to write letters of apology to the administrators as well as to the people at the theater. My students were not happy with this requirement, but I persisted and told them that even if they were behaving, they were still required to write a letter.
My day went well until I reached the end of my 6-9th period class. It was about six minutes before the bell was supposed to ring and the students had already been in my class for nearly and hour and a half when the intercom came on. We were informed that we were to keep our students in our class until we were told otherwise. My mind immediately went to about a million different scenarios---from a fight in the cafeteria, which is right down the hall from my classroom, to more sinister imaginings. Like any teacher though, I kept my cool as I instructed my students to stay in their seats and continue with the letters that they were writing. They ignored me until I told them I would find out what was going on but only if they behaved.
I poked my head out of the door and saw some of the other teachers in my hallway doing the same thing. We looked at each other, all of us with the same confused looks. One of the administrators came down the hallway, almost running and called to us. "We're on lock down! Keep the kids until you get the all clear." We all pulled our heads inside our classrooms and locked our doors. Everything was quiet until we heard sirens coming up the driveway of the school, several police cars came tearing onto the school grounds. Some of them came right up to the doors and others stayed at the end of the driveway.
There was no hope of keeping my kids on task after that, so I assigned extra credit work to them and promised some of the more unruly kids that I would put their extra credit assignments towards their first quarter grades. It seemed to work, but I noticed that they kept turning their eyes towards the windows when they thought I wasn't looking at them.
As the clocks edged farther into tenth period, more police cars and a fire engine pulled into the driveway. Some of the teachers, including myself, stuck their heads out of their classroom doors again. We looked at each other with the same looks of confusion that we had initially given each other. Now the administrators were sending the students who were in the cafeteria out into the halls. We were told to let them into our classroom and keep them there until we were told otherwise. As students rushed down the hall, my colleagues and I pulled them into our classrooms. My own students were trying to peek past me into the hallway, but I corralled them back in. I didn't know any of the students that I had pulled in, but what else could I have done?
I met the eye of the teacher across the hall from me. "Do we get combat pay for this?" she asked as she pulled kids into her room.
I laughed. "Are we taking any kids into our rooms? Or just the ones that belong to us?" I asked back.
She shrugged. "I'm taking in any that I can and damn the consequences." I nodded, that's what I was doing too.
Some of my students were a little frightened by the proceedings, but I kept assuring them that everything was going to be fine, that they were going to be fine. Many of my students had their cell phones out, but I didn't bother reprimanding them for it, what was the point? They were texting their friends and getting different versions of rumors of what was happening in the school. Some were saying it was a fight, others were saying that masked men had stormed into the cafeteria with guns. No one had any clue what was happening in the school.
We spent a total of 2 1/2 hours in lock-down before we got the all clear from the principal to let our students leave. After a cursory look in the hallway to see whether the other teachers were allowing their students to leave, a move that was echoed by all of the other teachers in the hall, I let my students go. I stood in the hallway as they were dismissed, keeping a careful eye on all of them. All after school activities were canceled for the day and all students were required to leave the building. They were herded and reminded by the hall monitors to make sure that they all actually left.
I decided to call it a day. There was no way I was going to get anything done, as worked up as I was from the experience. As I was walking down the hall, I fell in behind two police officers who were carrying a roll of caution tape, and were discussing the incident. I wasn't able to listen to a lot, but apparently, a group of people in dark clothes and masks came into the cafeteria and seemed to be a threat. They were apprehended and were waiting in the police cars outside.
I hope that I will get the rest of the facts at the next faculty meeting or something because I would like to know what really happened. All in all though, I'm glad that everything turned out okay and that everyone made it out of the building alright.
UPDATE: so here's the scoop, some teenagers who didn't go to the school got in and wanted to attack another kid...they obviously failed and were apprehended.....