A voice from the door...slice of life

The buzz had finally quieted down. The talkative readers who just had to share had finally settled in. I had conferenced with the red group, gathered the students and shared their great thinking and was taking advantage of the quiet. The readers were reading and thinking and writing down their thinking and I was grading (I hardly ever am found at my desk...honestly) their multiple meaning pages.

It was like a faint calling..."Miss Cathy (cause I'm not going to use my last name)...Miss Cathy". I thought I had heard my name, but wasn't quite sure. I looked around the room. No student was looking at me. They were all reading, writing, and thinking.

Again..."Miss Cathy...Miss Cathy". It was louder this time. I looked again. Again...NO ONE was looking at me. This has to be some sort of joke, I thought.

And then I heard it again..."Miss Cathy"...and it was definitely louder! It was coming from the bathroom in our room. A student who frequently is in there for minutes at a time (to the point I forget that he's in there) was calling out to me.

"Yes, student?"

"Where are the other kids?" Students begin to get distracted from their reading and look at me and the talking door. They snicker because they know who is in the bathroom and the fact that he is yelling out to talk to me.

"They're out here reading."

"Oh...I thought they had gone."

"Nope...you have another 20 minutes before recess."

A minute later the toilet flushes, he exits, and life continues in our reading workshop. Just one of the many slices that happen during the day that cause me to shake my head.