The Big Day

t-5.

Every day was a big day, but today was DEFINITELY a big day. I was going to have the classroom to myself, and that idea alone sounded awesome.

“Everything is going to be perfect!” I reminded myself as I sat in the teacher’s seat staring at the empty desks in the classroom. 

t-0.

The bell rung. I stood outside the classroom greeting each and every one of my students like every other day. But they quickly noticed the missing piece of the puzzle –their classroom teacher was indeed gone. 

Students worked independently on a research project, but things weren’t going as planned.

“This is definitely not perfect!” I screamed at myself as students kept on chattering with one another, climbing out of their seats to tango their way to a friend, and asking questions to things that had already been discussed. I had lost control. 

The classroom froze. 

Jessica and Maddie are giggling like the ladies in a tea commercial. Blake and Jacob are fighting over the dry erase spray bottle. While in my mind I realized something that was going to change everything. I realized that perfection did not exist. I realized that precision couldn’t exist in the classroom. I was so used to planning out and imagining every moment of class, forgetting that teaching requires improvising and adapting to changes. I just needed to remind myself that everything was going to be okay.

And they unfroze.