Why I Resigned From Teaching in 2024
Around October of 2023, I walked around my classroom, helping students with questions about the project they worked on when the principal came on the intercom. He said the school was now on lockdown.
“This is not a drill,” he said.
Instinctively, I hissed at my students to rush to the wall parallel to the entrance, where they couldn’t be seen if someone walked by the little window on the door.
The students, thinking it was a drill or some kind of prank, sauntered to the wall and sat down on the ground, careless about how severe the situation was.
I was the only one who rushed to close the blinds, shut off all electronics, and prepared for the worst possible situation.
All I knew at the time was that I might be risking my life to save the students in my classroom. Students, mind you, who were calling and texting their parents, asking them to be picked up. Students started playing games on their phones, allowing them to vibrate or ring as the hallway went quiet.
I hissed at them again, telling them it was a real drill. I told them to put away their phones because any buzzing or light source could put us at risk.
