I had my preliminary evaluation today. I passed. Lots of complimentary things written on my eval. I'm halfway through with "teacher residency" at this point. My littles all had great days, too. Even my smallest little, who's been having to push through some things that have been affecting him at school, did amazingly.
I returned home happily, only to open my Reeder app and see the horrible news. So many families who won't see their loved ones tonight. A school devastated by the loss of twenty-six (last I saw) of their own. Such unimaginable violence.
I was disgusted, enraged at the story on CNN. How could someone do this? How could this happen?
When my family was driving back from buying our Christmas tree, my work e-mail dinged on my phone. Scholastic News had sent articles and tips for processing this event with students. Reading the article meant for students, I cried. I imagined my littles, who only on Monday crouched under a table in a dark room during our lock down drill. They were terrified, even with the assurance that we were practicing.
Reading the news and watching the television brings me through the what-if's. I'm sorely tempted not to use the school mandated "safe wall" during the next drill. If there was really an active shooter, I'm not putting my littles under a table in a room with windows on most sides. My minions are small, and there are few of them. Our bathroom is huge.
In January, we will have a new focus on locking the door behind us when we go to the bathroom. So, just in case I ever have to tell my littles to lock themselves in the bathroom, they would know what to do.
