Friday, May 25, 2018

Three Rings

I knew there was a problem as I stepped out of the stairwell. One student popped his head out a door at the end of the hallway and another kid a little ahead of me called out, Is she the-- before he was shushed and warned of my presence behind him. The door to the classroom closed quickly, and I caught up with the student in front of me.

"There's no teacher in there, is there?" I asked.

"No," he admitted immediately.

"Let's go," I said, "because that's not allowed."

I opened the door and confronted a circus of sixth graders. Two were tossing a football, one was playing on the SmartBoard, a few were under the tables, a couple more were on them, the rest of the group wandered aimlessly around the small room. "Whoa!" I said, and they froze, wide-eyed.

"Go to the office and tell them that you don't have a teacher," I directed the most responsible kid I saw. I turned to the rest of the group. They were coming back to life, and I wanted to get a little control before they returned to their antics.

"Never close the door if there is not an adult in the room!" I started, "And if your teacher is not here, tell the office immediately!"

"But we're not allowed to leave the classroom without permission," a future debater replied with some serious snark in his tone.

"It's the office," I answered, "I'm sure they'll make an exception when they hear your news."

"Why don't you be our substitute!" another student suggested.

"You don't need a sub," I laughed, "you need a ringmaster!"

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