Paint Fumes

...or The Class That Wouldn't Be Distracted

It's one of those boring bookwork assignment days. Today they were to define chapter vocabulary. And this being the class of a teacher who usually gives such assignments when he's out, I expected one of those we're-going-to-sit-here-and-talk-and-do-no-work days. So, 2nd period I was very pleasantly surprised when they got to work, and they were nearly silent.

We had already started off at a deficit. 2nd period is when they do the morning announcements. So, after the students talk through that (which they did today), they usually keep on talking. But today after the announcements they got right to work. Shocker.

So, it was silent in the classroom. That's when I heard a strange sound. It sounded like someone was sandpapering. I looked around for the sound, and the students in the vicinity weren't doing anything odd. That's when I realized that what I was hearing was sandpapering.

I think I forgot to mention--they're repainting the school.

Anyway, the sandpapering continued for a bit, and then the painter opened the door. He sandpapered some more, and then he got to painting the door.

Remember: I have a room full of students (around 30 juniors and seniors), and they have an assignment. Did they budge? No. I was very surprised. They made no sound--barely even acknowledging that anything unusual was going on (in a room of 8th graders I probably would have had chaos).

I'd dodged a bullet. But then the canned food drive ambassadors came back (November--the canned food drive time of year) and they had announcements. The usual stuff: bring in cans (please!!!), competition, list of prizes of the top givers, etc. So, they finish, and I wait. And the class gets back to work!

I had no more interruptions. And the class continued to work until I instructed them to pack up.
Amazing. Sure, I get classes that work, but this group had plenty of distractions, and yet they continued to work. 4th period--no distractions, and very little work. Crazy.