A Day.

 7 alarms set on 2 devices;

2 snooze buttons pressed.

One coffee with milk & sugar,

My teeth are brushed,

And I’m quiet.

This was the fourth night in a row that

I had a vivid dream, so I wrote it in my

Journal.

“Father, what does it mean?”

Bethel ministers to my spirit as I read

Of Josiah’s faithfulness to the Lord and

Follow-through with the commands of the Lord

When Deuteronomy is read-aloud to him for the first time.

He disregards the patterns of his father

And sanctifies the land.

My messy mind loves reading the Bible chronologically.

One more alarm later signifies the end of my

Set apart time and I get dressed and ready for the day.

My coffee is reheated, my bag packed, and my shoes are on!

I walk out the side door, through the gate,

And call out, Bonjour Nouryann to my neighbor

Who fries goodies that school students purchase fresh

on their walk to school for the day.

Shiny cars, tinted windows, tap-taps, motos, beat-up vehicles,

Students from other schools, parents of other students, employees,

wanderers, goats,

Pass me on my 5 minute commute from home to school.

I enter the gate, greeting the guard,

Greeting students on the path alongside the soccer field,

As I move towards my classroom.

Today is Tuesday, so I don’t have a staff meeting.

I write comments on a 2^nd draft of a 9^th grade student’s

Autobiographical narrative and deposit it in her classroom mailbox.

Several students come in to ask questions before

First Period begins.

I read several parent emails and respond.

The nurse asks me about my health as I descend the high

School stairs in search of staples:

They ran out.

I catch the principal by the lockers for a conversation about

An assignment and my next class arrives as I break away during

The climax of the discussion.

Middle school typing. Students type up assignments

Using the correct fingers we’ve learned

Or continue on their typing lessons.

I have to chase two students out of class at the end

Because they are determined to finish the lessons they

Are working on!

*Sigh* (Good sigh)

High school break before next class.

Three 9^th grade girls linger in my doorway

And one says, “we appreciate you, Miss.”

The lot of the 9^th graders hustle in

For English class.

I now lock my door when class begins

Because tardiness was becoming an issue.

Word of the day, writing prompt about your favorite room

In the house, mini-lessons on writing traits, etc.

Class is over.  

Lunch.

Picnic table conversations with coworkers

A glutton-free friend

Eats glutton by mistake.

Discussions about church messages, adoption,

Students with lots of energy, etc. ensue.

Upon leaving the lunch table, I tell a coworker

That I want to tap her brain later for input

On an assignment I am giving students.

1:30pm, we agree.

I rush out the gate to say my daily, Bonswa

To my friends on Delmas 75 before returning to my

Classroom. My best friend, Venise, is not there.

M’ap vini, pita (I’ll come back later)

I promise as I wave goodbye to Natasha.

Natasha is probably only a year or two older

Than my students.

She is not fortunate enough to go to school.

Back in my classroom, I conference

With students—asking them questions

About the books they read this month.

One after the other…minus the students who

Blew off the meetings.

I quickly check my email and find one from a parent

That I’ll need to respond to soon.

Another message calls for a brief staff meeting after school.

12:45 and I head down to middle school to join

My coworker and friend during her writer’s workshop:

7^th grade writing!

It’s school picture day

And this class period is interrupted to take the photos.

As students return they continue poems, essays, memoirs,

Short stories, among other brilliant escapades on paper.

After students leave, we briefly discuss some of life’s

Challenges, disappointments, frustrations,

And hope for some more insight as we pursue

Our separate directions for the next hour.

It’s 1:30pm.

I walk up to my other friend/coworker’s classroom,

Where much brainstorming, advice, insight has occurred

Over the past 2 years.

We collaborate well.

She helps me get unstuck as I sort through frustrations

With an assignment I have given to my students.

Mesi Jezi!

It’s 2pm.

Classes are switching.

I walk diagonally across the hall

Back to my classroom and turn the AC on

As students show up for Study Skills.

They work independently on assignments from other classes.

I conference with…it was going to be three students…

But two weren’t prepared.

So, one.

We talk about the book he read this month.

I give the “evil eye” once or twice as

Under-the-radar whispering begins.

Mozart plays softly in the background as students

Read, work on Geometry problems,

Peer edit papers, prepare Socratic Seminar notes…

“We have four minutes left. Please fill out your work logs

And then feel free to have a quiet conversation with people

Around you.”

I have students signed-up back-to-back

From 3-4pm.

The first one is a no-show, so I pop into the staff meeting,

Leaving a “Back in 2” note on my door.

The annual staff retreat is being postponed this weekend

Due to unrest on the main road leading to the beach. L

Back to my classroom to finish out student conferences.

In between no-shows, I respond to the necessary emails

And prepare my whiteboard for tomorrow.

The last book conference adds sparkle to my day.

She read The Giver this month.

After answering questions about the book,

She explains that she thought about how the

Dystopian world in the book is almost like

What life would be like without the Fall.

There is no pain, but there is also no freedom. There

Is no room to make mistakes. You try to deviate from

The “norm” and you are automatically “released” AKA: killed.

She was intrigued by what Lois Lowry did with twins in the book—

The babies are both weighed and the smallest one is “released.”

My 9^th grader decided to apply this to her life—what would this mean

For her family? She asked her mother the birth weights

Of her and her sisters. My student discovered that her oldest sister

Was the smallest birth weight: what would life be like without her?

It would be really sad because she is the sister who both of the

Other girls get along with the most.

(Disclaimer: It was better when she explained it)

The power gets turned off at 4:30ish.

I open a window and finish grading an assignment

and stick it in the 9^th grader’s class mailboxes.

I pack my bag.

It’s just after 5pm.

I walk across campus saying “goodnight” to

Students who are still hanging out.

I see a security guard who I haven’t seen in a long time.

I switch to Creole.

We talk, he asks about my father’s health.

I pass through the gate and find my friend Venise.

She is tired today.

My friends Linda and Patricia are also working today—

I don’t always see them!

Patricia has been caring for her baby and hasn’t

Been working on Delmas 75 much lately.

Yornell chides me for not saying “hi” to him.

I apologize profusely. :P

Some of the other ladies selling fruit beckon me over…

We talk about not having seen each other for a long time;

We talk about hair; we joke around.

One of my friends says she will stop by later on tonight,

And I tell her that I have some things I need to finish up

My walk on the way home from school.

And that tonight isn’t a good night.

Because I then have somewhere to be at 7:30.

I walk home.

I greet Manushka

And the next door neighbors

On my way into my gate I hear one of the friends

Of these neighbors call out in English,

“Hey what did you bring me.”

I turn around and call out to the rest of his friends,

Li fou paske li te mande m’ kisa m’ gen pou li, men

Li pa gen bagay pou m’! (He’s crazy because he asked

What I have for him but he doesn’t have anything for me!).

They laugh…perhaps at my ridiculousness in responding

Or maybe my joke is a tiny bit…funny? At least

The overkill jesting I used to illustrate my point, perhaps.

Here I am…I burned some leftover pizza as I heated it up on

The stove, unobserved.

And here, I write.

Thinking of how I must shower and then call Mark

To bring his moto to take me to worship tonight!

Thank You, Father, for the day You have provided.

May all I have said and done bring glory to You!