Hi guys.
Yesterday, February 23, my district had a threat made against them on social media. We were told it wasn't credible, but to be alert just in case.
All morning, kids were pulled from class, one by one. Instead of a room full of 28 energetic 4th graders, I had 11 students. 11.
When I was first told this was going on, I had about 10 minutes before students were to arrive to my class. I sat at my desk and let a few tears come out. Then my student teacher and I got ready. We unlocked the brakes to our computer cart. We moved another cart closer to the front door. We closed the blinds and decided we'd keep the door locked ourselves, though we were not on lockout or lockdown (unlike the other district that was also threatened).
Then we had to put on our "happy" faces and greet the students as they came. Go on like normal. Though it wasn't normal to have a kid leave to go home 10 minutes after school started. It wasn't normal to have kids leaving every 5-10 minutes. It wasn't normal to jump every single time the intercom came on, thinking we were going to be told to go into lockdown. It wasn't normal to see the rest of the kids get quiet, wondering why and where all their classmates were going, and wondering who was going next. It wasn't normal to see 20 parents at the office waiting to pick up their students. It wasn't normal to see my principal guarding the front door.
We finally got the ok about 9:30 to inform our students what was going on. I told my students they were safe. We weren't on an official lockdown. I told them we care so much, we were just being careful. Then I had a student say that their parents must not care about them because they hadn't been picked up. I had to counsel that student and tell them their parents do care, but they didn't think the threat was real.
I was so exhausted emotionally at reading time, that my student teacher and I decided to put on a lighthearted movie, turn off the lights and turn on our lamps and Christmas lights. We all needed to relax and take it easy.
I'm proud that I'm one of many in the #armmewith movement. We don't need guns in the classroom. They have no place in the classroom. It's a classroom, not a prison. We teach students, not prisoners.
1
Yesterday, February 23, my district had a threat made against them on social media. We were told it wasn't credible, but to be alert just in case.
All morning, kids were pulled from class, one by one. Instead of a room full of 28 energetic 4th graders, I had 11 students. 11.
When I was first told this was going on, I had about 10 minutes before students were to arrive to my class. I sat at my desk and let a few tears come out. Then my student teacher and I got ready. We unlocked the brakes to our computer cart. We moved another cart closer to the front door. We closed the blinds and decided we'd keep the door locked ourselves, though we were not on lockout or lockdown (unlike the other district that was also threatened).
Then we had to put on our "happy" faces and greet the students as they came. Go on like normal. Though it wasn't normal to have a kid leave to go home 10 minutes after school started. It wasn't normal to have kids leaving every 5-10 minutes. It wasn't normal to jump every single time the intercom came on, thinking we were going to be told to go into lockdown. It wasn't normal to see the rest of the kids get quiet, wondering why and where all their classmates were going, and wondering who was going next. It wasn't normal to see 20 parents at the office waiting to pick up their students. It wasn't normal to see my principal guarding the front door.
We finally got the ok about 9:30 to inform our students what was going on. I told my students they were safe. We weren't on an official lockdown. I told them we care so much, we were just being careful. Then I had a student say that their parents must not care about them because they hadn't been picked up. I had to counsel that student and tell them their parents do care, but they didn't think the threat was real.
I was so exhausted emotionally at reading time, that my student teacher and I decided to put on a lighthearted movie, turn off the lights and turn on our lamps and Christmas lights. We all needed to relax and take it easy.
I'm proud that I'm one of many in the #armmewith movement. We don't need guns in the classroom. They have no place in the classroom. It's a classroom, not a prison. We teach students, not prisoners.
