Classroom Chronicles

Disruptions to Teaching and Learning

This past week has been exhausting — mentally and physically.

I prep for four different classes every day and every week. I’ve been staying after work to make copies of the lessons. The copier in the morning before class is not available. As of Friday, we were once again out of copy paper.

My classroom is at the end of a long hallway. Going to the bathroom between classes is a trek. I feel I have to travel ten miles to pee. If I have to do a number two — forget about it.

This week, we had several teachers and administrators absent. I don’t know if it were due to COVID or personal reasons, but it feels like last year when the virus was still running rampant in the world. Schools were forced to be in-person and mask-wearing was required but a lot of students weren’t following protocol. This led to many teachers and students becoming sick due to COVID.

This year, wearing a mask is optional. I don’t know why because COVID is not leaving us and it’s also flu season. There’s also been a rise of another virus — RSV, which is impacting younger students. This may cause older students to be out to support their parents with childcare. We are dealing with a triple epidemic of viruses.

By Friday, I was exhausted because we have spent too much time outside. This is because students have been pulling the fire alarm. One time, we were outside for so long, the students were dismissed early. The alarm just wouldn’t shut off and teachers can’t teach in such conditions. The students definitely couldn't learn with an alarm blaring in their ears.

There was also a fight before the latest alarm yesterday. Two girls were going at it during the transition from the 5th to the 6th period. I heard a loud commotion near my classroom and came out to see a crowd around the double doors down the hall. I saw one of my colleagues wrestling with a student. Several teachers came out from their rooms to move the crowd and I ushered my students into the room.

A few minutes later, as we were deep into the lesson, the fire alarm goes off. This was the third time this week. We received dirty looks from the firefighters as they exited our building. It’s embarrassing to be standing outside dealing with false alarms. Even the students are beginning to complain — you know it's serious when that happens.

We also had a gun threat that placed the school into safe mode. The police arrived in force and scoured the building searching for weapons. Someone had called the school saying a student had a gun. The safe mode lasted for about twenty minutes. I was in my room and fortunately, I didn’t have any students. I continued my planning.

Between evacuations, fights, and safe modes, I’m exhausted. Every day I’m waiting to see if we have to evacuate the building. In addition to students cutting class, leaving school grounds without permission, and fighting in the hallways, teachers are expected to still teach. What learning will happen with students amped up over the disruptions?

Something has to be done. School leadership needs an action plan. We must get students to understand the consequences of their actions. These constant disruptions are not going to help the school’s standing. We don’t want to risk being taken over. The future of the school is at stake.