emergency drills

this morning, we had a "shelter in place" drill, which basically means that the alarm sounds and we are to stay in the classroom, lock the doors, and turn off the a/c - in the event that there are hazardous airborne pathogens. so during the drill time, i had to explain to the students what it was for and why we have practice drills. the students had a lot of questions and a whole lot of stories to share about different experiences with emergency situations. it was really sobering to hear that many of them have experienced a lock-down either in school or at their apartment building because of neighborhood shootings. even scarier, a handful of the kids have seen a dead body in the street after gunfire. and it's weird to me that they are really nonchalant in talking about it. it's another reminder for me that i have such little understanding of the daily life that they engage in. their reality is a foreign concept to me.

this week, the students are reading a story about a blind kid who starts a greeting card business for step-families. as an activity, i had the students make their own greeting cards in class and i was kind of surprised to learn that many of them have step-families too. it was another reminder about how little i know about my students' families, though parent conferences have given me some more insight into their backgrounds. some of the parents today had very complementary things to say, such as how their kid talks about the class and me and think i'm really nice. eh...i don't care so much about being nice. i would much rather be effective and hear that the students seem to be learning.

i have all of these ideas of things to do in class, and then i never get to actually planning them out or prepping it. so sad. but, i am starting to like my students more and am no longer as overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many of them. i have to say that that is a 1st-year teacher victory.

as a side note: will most of my posts now pertain to teaching? yes...because i have no outside life. boo.