Oh, you should have seen the look on their faces when I got there... Priceless. (This is good. It means they know I'll enforce rules. Ernesto groaned. "We won't be allowed to talk.")
The assignment: write book reports for the books they were reading last time.
We went over the book report form. I gave them some time to "discuss". Then, just as I was about to call for silence, the fire alarm went off.
Seriously?
"Fire alarm? We have to evacuate." Ernesto was eager to go. In fact, in less than a minute, the entire class was gone.
I lingered. First, I needed to grab the class roster and the evacuation envelope. Second, most of the classes in my immediate vicinity weren't evacuating. This wasn't the school with the fire alarm glitch, but I recognized the lack of movement. Sure enough, other teachers were urging everyone to get back inside.
(The PA speaker in the classroom was broken. A neighboring teacher told me the "do not evacuate" announcement had been made.)
It wasn't long before kiddos returned. All of them. There's a point when it's obvious that the alarm was false.
Ernesto: "Why are you angry? It wasn't our fault..."
Funny that he would think me angry. At that point, I was just trying to get their attention back so that I could get them back to the task at hand.
At least they got a bit of a break before they had to buckle down and get to work.
Fire alarms are always fun when you are a substitute!
ReplyDeleteNot!
DeleteAnd did they work? Nice to know you have a reputation of "not an easy sub."
ReplyDeletebetty
Surprisingly, they did. Not Ernesto, of course, but the rest of them behaved much like they had two weeks prior. Which was pretty well, considering.
Delete
ReplyDeleteYou really needed that distraction right then, didn't you?
It's always good for a sub to have that kind of rep. Keeps the kids in line. Although, Ernesto sounds like he's eager to be the exception.
ReplyDeleteOh yea.
DeleteHurrah for fire alarms and practice. In elem. school, there is a strobe light that starts flashing and the alarm blaring in each classroom. Me and my migraines crawl out the door and follow the procedure to the letter, as I am on all fours, waiting to vomit. Never happened, but there was always the possibility.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, they evacuated too fast, not realizing it was a false alarm.
DeleteI remember doing something like that more than once, especially if there was a particularly onerous assignment. But a book report wouldn't have been a problem for me!
ReplyDeleteErnesto needs a kick in the butt! We used to have faulty fire alarms at the nursing home. Can be very aggravating. Not to mention dangerous because it got so we ignored them.
ReplyDeleteYeah. There was one time when we actually had to evacuate (due to a faulty heater), and they had to announce, "Please evacuate".
DeleteGlad most of them got to work after the fire alarm! :)
ReplyDeleteI was rather surprised, but glad.
DeleteMy mother is a sub for the local school system, and she has that same rep. She covered my godson's class once, and I asked him how it went afterward. And he said (he was probably 10 at the time), "Ugh. She's such a mean sub. She made us do the work!"
ReplyDeleteGlad everyone (with the exception of Ernesto, of course) eventually got down to work.
Oh great, just what you need in your day!
ReplyDeleteSince the periods were 2 hours, I figured it was a nice break for them.
DeleteI used to love fire alarm drills when in school. It was like a mini-vacation!
ReplyDeleteMary
Jingle Jangle Jungle
It must be a kid thing. I don't like them at all.
DeleteGlad it wasn't a real fire. I'm a little surprised that the class got to go on their own. Where I live, we always had to wait on a teacher or other adult to lead the class outside. And we always always always went outside when an alarm went off whether it was an accident or not.
ReplyDeleteIs it bad that I am amused that you are a "mean sub"? lol.
No, they didn't "get" to go on their own. They just left. They were supposed to wait for me. We were supposed to walk out together. And if they had waited on me like they were supposed to... Well, you get the idea.
DeleteErnesto sounds like a handful. But I bet you like him deep down... He sounds like one of those who could worm his way into your heart, even if he might have disruptive tendencies. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat grade are the kids you are teaching again??
Michele at Angels Bark
Nope. Not at all. He annoys me. At least I've only seen him the twice...
DeleteThis was a 9th grade class. But I'm a sub, so the grade level varies. Today I had 7th graders.
You just got to love those unexpected inturruptions. It's good to see that the students know what you expect from them. I have a hard time showing confidence in my own authority around teenagers and they can tell.
ReplyDeleteIt took time to get there. And I'm not always so confident. Depends on the day, I think.
DeleteLiz,
ReplyDeleteYour work sounds about as crazy as mine - only in a different way. Unexpected things happen all the time. I'm glad your kids came in promptly and were ready to get to work. It's a good thing you don't let them slack off. Everyone takes advantage of things if you aren't strict enough. It's terrible when even adults act like kids (speaking about my work here).
I try not to let them slack off. Some classes refuse, though, and do little to nothing.
DeleteAt times the firm alarm "drill" gets really painful.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like fire alarm drills are always inconvenient.
ReplyDeleteOnly this wasn't a drill. It was an actual alarm (albeit, a mistakenly tripped one).
DeleteThe sad thing is that if it was real, the kids would panic, just like adults do. At least the little buggers all came back. Ernesto is one for the books
ReplyDeleteThe only thing worse than false alarms is alarms for the real deal.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, blogging at Life & Faith in Caneyhead