Fall break is officially over and I've been back in the classroom for one week. When I last posted a blog I chose to start fall break on a happy note rather than a sad note so I guess I need to discuss the sad note first today. Before I do that, a little bit about fall break. My part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse and I spent eight days visiting as far west as Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, plus hiking in three national parks in the high desert of southern Utah. The adventure started in Salt Lake City where we actually spent a day and a half with as far west as Utah. A side note for those that are confused. As I've said before, I don't use any real names so, when you read "as far west as Utah," that is the name of a real person who lives in Utah. We first met as far west as Utah outside the Coliseum in Rome when we were vacationing in Italy a few years ago and we've maintained a friendship ever since. We spent a good part of a day in Salt Lake City visiting the national headquarters of the Mormon Church which was an absolutely fascinating experience. From there we headed to the national parks. We visited Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion Canyon National Park. The scenery was amazing and our hiking in the national parks covered between twenty-five and thirty miles at elevations that are definitely not found in Indiana.
It was Wednesday before fall break at approximately 1:25pm when the collision occurred. We were in our physical education specials classroom and the scholars were participating in a game of tag. There were around twenty-five scholars involved in the game and running was taking place in the confined area of a basketball court. I didn't actually see the collision but when the PE teacher was walking out of the gym with a scholar with a nose bleed I knew something bad had happened. As the PE teacher was walking past me I asked him if he wanted me to take the scholar to our first aid room so he could continue with his class. He agreed, so I walked the scholar to the first aid room. In addition to a nose bleed, the scholar also had a small cut on the inside of his lip so there was a fair about of blood. Our school does not have a nurse and to the best of my knowledge there is no one trained in first aid in our school that I could contact for help. That left me two options, tend to the scholars injuries or leave the scholar to sit quietly in our first aid room by himself and hope the bleeding stopped. I chose to assist the scholar. In doing so, I lost track of the time. When I had the bleeding stopped and made sure that the blood that was all over the scholars face was cleaned off I returned to the gym. As I walked in, the general education class that we rotate through specials with was lined up at the door waiting to leave. When I looked for my scholars I didn't see them so I asked the PE teacher where they were. He informed me that they left to return to their classroom. That was a little disappointing to hear because the PE teacher or any other teach never just lets scholars return to a classroom without an adult escorting them. With the scholars not in my sight, I was moving quickly back to my classroom.
As I approached the classroom there were loud voices coming from within the room. Huey was up and moving about and Gnu was maneuvering to corner him. Apparently something happened in PE when I was out of the gym doing first aid that carried over all the way to the classroom. I was about halfway across the classroom when Gnu put Huey into the approved hold and was trying to move him into our timeout room. As I approached Gnu I said to her, "let me take over." Her response was aggressive. "I've got this. Where were you? Why were these scholars allowed to leave the gym and enter the classroom by themselves? I was in a meeting and this is what I walked into when I return to my classroom?" Gnu was angry and her anger was directed at me. I've been in this classroom for four and one quarter school years and never has there been any angry exchanges between the adults. This was the first one and fortunately I recognized that I needed to stay under control. "A scholar was hurt during gym class. I took him to our first aid room to help stop the bleeding from his nose and mouth. I thought I did the right thing in helping this scholar" is what I said to Gnu. My response was met with silence.
It took a while to get the classroom settled down then Gnu started our math block and the day ended peacefully. Around 3:35pm Gnu left the classroom with the scholars that ride a bus home and I stayed in the classroom to put everything back in it's proper place. As soon as I was finished I left school and headed for home. When I walked in the door my part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse knew something was wrong. "Tough day," she said to me. My response was one word, "yes" and I took a seat in our living room. I sat there for several minutes before I heard, "so what happened?" As soon as I told her she said to me, "you don't need to take it personal. You know you work in a tough environment and sometimes emotions get to the adults just like they do with the scholars. Let it go, you know Gnu didn't mean it." I was home for about an hour and a half before I completed my own de-escalation process. About thirty minutes later my cellphone rings and it's a text message from Gnu. "I just wanted to apologize for what happened. You are so important to this classroom and I just wanted you let you know that." My response was, "we are a team. We work in a difficult environment and some times things happen. That will not change us from being a team, a real good team. See you in the morning."
On Friday morning, our last day of school before fall break, and Gnu walked into the room and said to me, "I'm so excited, the BigB2 has assigned an inclusion teacher to our room. This teacher will arrive everyday at 1:00pm and take responsibility for the independent math station." "You're kidding," was my response. "No, and I'm so excited because we will be able to get some much more done." At the end of the day Gnu and I walked out of the school together. Gnu was flying out to Florida on Saturday morning with her gentleman caller to spend some time on the beach. I have five days off before packing to head as far west as Utah. I knew when I arrived home discussions would immediately start about what I was going to do for five days as my part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse will be in school. Saturday and Sunday went about in a normal fashion. On Monday morning I heard my part time editor, part time consultant and full time spouse leave for school but I chose to remain in bed for a little longer. When I finally got up, I walked down to the kitchen, turned left to head to the coffee pot, and there it was right on the counter and as big as life, my to do list.
It's a beautiful day here in Indianapolis. The maid of honor at our wedding and her husband are passing through Indianapolis as they head back to Michigan and we are meeting them for lunch. We will be dining at a place called the Fireside. They have a Sunday brunch and best of all at the Sunday brunch, they have $5.00 Bloody Mary's. I'm pretty sure I'll order one, maybe two. Thanks for continuing to follow the adventures of a teacher that I named after an African animal, Gnu, and an old guy that has a view from the back of the classroom.
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