It was a crazy day! I was down a sub for one of my para-educators who was out sick. I had ten of my eleven students and it was turning out to be some kind of a day.
Now, to understand the importance of what happened, one has to understand the makeup of my classroom this year. In addition to my seven returning students, I have an additional para-educator and a nurse in my classroom and four new kindergartners, giving us four staff (including myself), one nurse, and eleven students total. Three of my four kinders are on a kindergarten schedule, which means they leave my classroom by noon. Of the three, one has the nurse who rides the bus with her, and the other two has the additional para who rides with them. By noon, I am left with two paras, seven students who eat lunch by mouth, and the other who is tube fed. On a good day, my additional para gets back by 12:45pm and we are all done with lunch and back to work with our students by 1:00pm.
As I stated in the beginning, I was down a para and no sub. As the day progressed, it seemed as if we were falling further and further behind on everything. By the time we got to lunch, my para and I were scrambling to get everyone fed. By 1:05pm, my additional para had come back, and we were finally wrapping up lunches and beginning the toileting and prepping for home process, when all of a sudden, we hear the classroom door open, and in walks two very important visitors. I recognized one, but not the other!
As the one I don’t recognize is introduced, he looks around the classroom, assess what is going on and asks me what are we doing right now. I let him know that we are wrapping up lunch. Here is what follows!
He very pointedly looks at his watch, then looks at me, and says, “isn’t lunch a little late for your students?”
Me, “Yes it is!”
Him, “May I ask why?”
Me, “Yes you may, and I am more than happy to answer why!”
I go on to explain to him why we were late on lunch. I let him know that on any other day, he would have walked into my classroom to find us in our groups working on whatever activity was for that day. But, unfortunately, not today.
Him, “Well, I’m impressed! Your students are smiling and happy. Appear to be fed and contented! Great job and kudos to you and your staff!”
In my experience, smart, compassionate, nonjudgmental people will do one of three things: ignore what they see assuming a reason for it, make a comment which opens the door for explanation, or outright ask questions. Thankfully, this visitor outright asked questions instead of judging. In the end, he paid us a wonderful compliment!