And this is why I teach for America?

As soon as I heard the office manager use the intercom to call the principal to the office "immediately", I was already looking for my keys. I knew what was coming. I've heard this more than a few times over the last three+ years. About a minute later the announcement was made that our school was on lockdown again.

I started to get concerned when the lockdown was lasting longer than normal. This was not a concern for our safety. I knew that it wasn't going to be long until someone would have to use the bathroom. I tried to keep the writing lesson going, but I could see a few kids were not exactly worried about their essay. They were mostly worried that their little bladders were about to burst.

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. Here was my solution:

No, it's not a giant puppet show theater. No, we didn't make a fort in the back of the room. I used the smart board and some blankets to create our own classroom outhouse.

In one breath I'm telling students to "just squat over the sink". In another breath I'm telling other students to "please try to be mature about this". I was just doing everything I could not to laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of it all.