You would have had to have been up pretty early.
I was.
As a teaching credential student, I had literally pulled an all-nighter working on my quarterly portfolio.
I was functioning solely on coffee at that point in the morning, and turned on the television in hopes that the morning programs would assist in keeping me awake.
That's when I heard Matt Lauer interrupt an interview with breaking news.
And I watched....assembled pages.....watched.....assembled pages....and witnessed the horror of the second crash live on television.
Soon after, I left the house to drop off my portfolio across town prior to beginning my day of teaching (yes...I was once able to normally function after sleepless nights).
But all I really wanted to do was plop myself down in front of the t.v., along with the rest of America, and watch history unfold.
At school, teachers gathered for our morning meeting, where our teary-eyed principal entered the room and told us of the building collapse.
I welcomed students somberly into our classroom that morning, and consoled worried parents.
One of my students reported to me that the White House had been hit.
With no way to verify that information, I was pretty upset until my update at recess, when I discovered that he had mistakenly been talking about the Pentagon building.
Later in the day, a student of mine was removed from class since her father was suddenly called to active duty in the military.
The rest of us colored patriotic pictures on squares, which we later turned into a class quilt.
We didn't accomplish much that day in Second Grade.
I blame morning's trauma and my failing adrenaline levels in equal part.
But it was good to be together, to give my students a bit of safety and consistency as the world around them changed.
6 comments:
I saw it live as well. I hadn't pulled an all-nighter, but Dad had woken me up for school(a bit early, if I remember correctly). I remember going to school(I had barely started my freshman year of high school) not quite grasping the seriousness of what had happened, but as the day went on and more and more people were talking about it, it really started to sink in.
I was 7 months pregnant with my oldest, and I had just gotten to the bank, where I worked. All of my coworkers were gathered in the break room watching the news coverage. I called Alex at home, he was getting ready for school, still a student at Delta. And he saw the second tower get hit. In my pregnant, emotional state, I had vivid nightmares for weeks that Osama Bin Laden was going to bomb our apartment complex. I can hardly believe it's been 10 years already.
Just two disagreements - NOT a slacker, but an intent student and dedicated teacher, at the sacrifice of your own sleep; and YES, you accomplished MUCH that day, simply by providing safety and consistency for your students PLUS ad-libbing a meaningful art project for them, too. No wonder you were such an admired and loved teacher, Miss Petersen!
- Your very proud mom :)
Well, procrastinator at the very least. I had three months to put that portfolio together...I did it all in a week. Don't tell. :)
I will give you "procrastinator." You know how both you and your brother stressed me with your schoolwork procrastinating, when you graduated college I could finally relax! Obviously it worked for you because you did graduate. ;)
I just did 8 months of lesson plans...in the last three days. LOL Power to the procrastinators!!
Post a Comment