Ugh, blergh, bleck, puhhhh

Mar. 12th, 2013 at 11:55 AM

We just got off of an hour long lockdown. A "real" one, mind you, wherein there was apparently a "person of interest" in the area.

AN HOUR. In a classroom. Sitting in the dark corner. With 11 teenagers.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. Just mind-numbingly boring. Everyone was hungry as it went into the lunch period, and I had to pinch myself to stay awake. The kids were actually quite good, but I'm still contemplating teaching all of my students sign language so that we can communicate in similar circumstances. Wouldn't be a bad idea, really...

Thank goodness today is already a short day: the kids get out at 1:35. As soon as the car line dies down, I'm OUT of here ;_;

Comments

( 15 comments — Leave a comment )

kerravonsen

Mar. 12th, 2013 04:35 pm (UTC)

??!!??

Confused Australian here. Lockdown? Sitting in a dark corner? Is this something relatively new?

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 12:57 am (UTC)

Oh! A lock-down is a safety procedure for whenever there is a suspicious person on campus. It began as a direct result of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School and evolved as a way for teachers to ensure that their students are safe in the event of an emergency. When a lock-down is called, the teachers check the halls for students then lock their classroom door, turn off the lights, and instruct the students to sit silently by the wall away from the windows. We put a piece of colored paper under our doors to indicate whether our room is clear or in danger, and we pretty much wait out the problem until an "all clear" is called.

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kerravonsen

Mar. 13th, 2013 01:32 am (UTC)

(mutter mutter mutter) So glad I don't live in the USA. Stupid lack of sensible gun laws. (mutter mutter mutter)

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 02:16 am (UTC)

You're preaching to the choir, my dear :(

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kerravonsen

Mar. 13th, 2013 02:24 am (UTC)

So you're not of the school of thought that teachers should be armed? Good to know. 8-/

(Edit: changed icon)

Edited at 2013-03-13 02:25 am (UTC)

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 10:18 am (UTC)

*laughs* As fun as it would be to have a neat little revolver packed away for extra "classroom management," all I can picture is being jumped by a student who then takes the gun and commences on a shooting spree. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem for every teacher, but I'm 4'10" and teenagers are wily!

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astalde

Mar. 13th, 2013 12:57 am (UTC)

Glad everything turned out okay!

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 12:57 am (UTC)

Hear, hear!

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dixiebell12

Mar. 13th, 2013 02:26 am (UTC)

Thank God you're alright! Scary!

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 10:21 am (UTC)

It was a little scary, but mainly just tedious! One hour with bored teenagers huddled in a corner silently (or mostly) is not my idea of a lovely afternoon. But we're lucky the person o' interest didn't end up on our campus!

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madeleinebella

Mar. 13th, 2013 03:21 am (UTC)

Scary + boring = worst of both worlds. I'm sorry to hear you went through that. *scary high school flashbacks from public school days* Glad you're all right. I assume the whole situation was resolved within the hour?

ETA: But sign language! Yes!! If you're interested, excellent teaching resources at http://lifeprint.com/. (Sorry, ASL Club secretary here. Get excited about such things.)

Edited at 2013-03-13 03:22 am (UTC)

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 08:27 pm (UTC)

I think it would be brilliant to have an ASL club! I doubt I would be able to find time in our curriculum schedule to actually teach it to my English students, but you know what? It might be fascinating to do a unit on ASL in my Speech/Debate class, sort of as a "speech-without-spoken-words" appreciation lesson.

And yeah, it was resolved - although I'm not entirely sure what happened to the "person of interest." I was made to understand that it was some idiot walking down the street with a shotgun, but why he thought that was a good idea and what happened to him? No clue.

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madeleinebella

Mar. 13th, 2013 08:35 pm (UTC)

That sounds like a great idea. I'd love to hear how it goes! Let me know if you're looking for resources or anything. Note: There are generally a lot of ASL chat meetup groups in most areas, and they often welcome beginning students who know little to no ASL but are interested in learning some signs and learning about Deaf Culture. Might be a fun field trip.

Wow. Well glad you and yours are safe, and strongest hope that the person is in a safe place too.

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jewells68

Mar. 13th, 2013 11:54 am (UTC)

I think the sign language bit is an awesome idea! Maybe not the whole language, but a modified, limited array of phrases that will get the point across. Brilliant, actually.

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dozmuffinxc

Mar. 13th, 2013 08:28 pm (UTC)

It would definitely be awesome! I've always been fascinated by ASL, but I've never had the time to devote to learning anything much beyond the alphabet.

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( 15 comments — Leave a comment )

Ugh, blergh, bleck, puhhhh

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