Monroe Lock Down

So, today was my second of three days working at Monroe Middle School. I like working here because most of the kids are pretty well behaved, although it is two days before Spring Break. Yesterday I came down with a Migraine and still have some of the after effects today (mostly I am just tired). I decided during third period that I would leave right after my fifth period (which is the last I teach) and go home to sleep. Then, in the middle of fifth period one of the administrators gets on the intercom to announce that there is a situation unfolding in the neighborhood near monroe and we need to immediately go into lock down mode. My adrenaline immediately shoots through the roof. Flashbacks of Thurston.

I lock the door as a student comes back in from the bathroom totally clueless. I hope the girl headed to the office has actually gotten there and I do my best to get these eleven and twelve year olds to listen to me and shut up. The lights go off and the kids huddle behind the whiteboards in the back of the class, away from the doors and windows. I try to find (in the dark) my substitute handbook and class list so I can figure out if anyone is missing and to see what the routine is for lock downs, since I've never attended a staff meeting. The kids keep talking about how they are going to die and giggling and whatnot (despite my efforts to hush them). Thankfully, whenever they hear the bells that an announcement will be made over the intercom, they are stone silent. After about five or so minutes the administration informs us that we will enter a modified lock down where we are not to leave the classroom, but can get back to business. Ya right. All the kids want to do is to make noise and talk with their friends. So, I institute the "talking stick" where if you don't have the stick, you can't talk. And allow the students to start sharing their stories of other lockdowns and innevitably the Thurston Shooting comes up.

I then share with the students that the reason I was so red once the initial lock down was over was because I was there when the Thurston Shooting happened. They were so interested because they were old enough to know something happened, but not exactly what. They were also concerned about whether or not they would be going to sixth period. I told them not until we get instructions to do so. These instructions came minutes later, to let us know that we were entering another modified lock down where we could move about the building, but not to leave the building.

At this point, I have realized that my plans and hopes of getting a nap had already flown out the window. Especially, because teachers also weren't allowed to leave. I then got to help with the controlled release. This is where students were allowed to leave the building at the end of school, but only when their parents got out of the car and came to the front of the school to get them, or could prove they were walking home opposite of the disturbance, or each bus load was taken out at a time, so that each student was accounted for.

All in all, the day went well, but I was so exhausted after my errands that when I got home at about 6:45 and couldn't wait to get into bed.