Patches

What does one do or say when “rats ate your art project”? As a student teacher, I thought I would have to see a lot, but this was not one of the familiarities I was comfortable familiarizing myself with.

I woke up last Thursday, with eagerness and an anxiousness to begin my painting onto rain sticks my second graders had so beautifully and chaotically created. I knew My supervisor, Dr. Rayala was coming into my classroom (that wasn’t actually mine because of the grand ‘ole art on a cart), so I knew this lesson would need to go as smooth as possible. Though, when I walked into my classroom (that wasn’t actually mine, but the storage closet), I noticed half of my rain sticks had been munched away by furry critters in the night. They left their mark with left over paper mache pieces scattered all around the room, as well as droppings, to ensure that I would be 100% stressed out. It worked.

Being in Allentown School District, I knew I’d have my struggles and high demands for being on my toes at all times, but I was not prepared for having to think on my feet like this. What was the “ethical” thing to do in that situation? I thought, and thought, and realized, no matter how much I thought, I had class in a couple minutes, and kids needed art no matter what the circumstances. I “sanitized”, and patched the holes…and moved on. Just like I think many of us need to do while we’re student teaching. Many times, we’ll find ourselves in a rut, and the easy thing is to panic and beat ourselves up (ironically enough, I just taught one of my 4^th graders what the word “critical” meant, and how we are our own worst enemy),  but, we just need to sanitize, patch it up, and move on.

Surprisingly, I was pleased with how the lesson played out. I was “confident” (or as much as one could be, when I knew the kids were touching mice specimen), and was the same Miss Berry for them, as well as for Dr. Rayala. Just when my confidence decided to take a leisurely stroll, my “calming music” on volume level 34, decided to shuffle, and blast out a rap song right before my ears! (of course, nothing can go smoothly..) I raced over to my speakers, hijacked my iPod, sanitized and patched the hole. Distraction could have sunk in for the rest of class, but… Miss Berry patches moments; she doesn’t let the hole get bigger.
As for the rain sticks... they're in my car now.