say something

I have a classroom that is twice the size as a normal room, so it is often used for meetings.  On the weekend, the school hosted a big event, and lots of middle school teachers had to volunteer and sit in the hallways to monitor.  I had locked my things up, and expected my room to be disorganized, and it was.  Chairs were stacked and stuffed in a corner, music instruments were splayed all over the floor in the same corner, tables were stacked on each other, papers, packets, and supplies from the event were on my cabinets.  And, my basketball hoop was missing.

I usually have the secretary send the cleaners - they are a big enough crew they can organize my hundred chairs, 30 long tables, and instrument storage pretty quickly.  But this morning I had my students all pitch in during the morning meeting time.  We only had ten minutes, but we did our best. One of my girl students is a big boss - and ordered everyone around, shaming anyone who didn't help.

In the end, I left somethings for later, and never could get to them.  My Mondays are busy with lessons straight through until 1pm and I was annoyed but still hopeful the cleaners would come with my basketball hoop.

The Hawk came in around 12:30 with a colleague of mine in a frazzle.  She was looking for a coverage, and apparently I had been assigned one that morning and it needed to be switched already.  I hadn't been following email traffic that morning - but I could see by the Hawk's face that it had been stressful.  Actually, anything relating to coverages is stressful for her.  She hates it and she's really bad at it.  She can't think on the fly, she usually "asks" anyone she sees, careless of their time in favor of her current emergency.  They came to ask me to switch.
My students were taking turns sharing their writing pieces out loud.  A girl was in the middle of her piece, reading it out loud, and trying to continue reading even though the principal and my colleague were trying to talk to me.  I was annoyed, and trying to focus on my student - and their request at the same time.  I was annoyed because my room was rearranged, my basketball hoop was missing.  I was annoyed because they had interrupted my lesson and student sharing for their "emergency".
The Hawk said I was the only one available.
I'd been teaching 6 periods in a row and into a 7th half period.
"Everyone's been teaching all morning," she said.
And, because I was feeling ornery, I said, "Everyone is NOT teaching in the morning - I know my schedule is unique.
Well, there is no one left.

So why are you belittling my time spent by comparing it to another?  Why are you barging in and ignoring this student and my lesson?  Why are you comparing my extra large room with extra chairs and tables to regular classrooms?

Stop discounting my words!

I talked with the Hawk about it later.  I apologized for being short with her and said I was willing to help out, and I told her my frustration with the interruption.

But in my heart, I'm wondering if I've developed a chip on my shoulder, or if this is the new me coming through that refuses to have her words bulldozed for the sake of others.  I will help, I will converse, I will be a team player - but listen to me, I've got something to say too.