Just checking in with the prologue from Rebel Hour, which can be found at the Sail the 7 C’s Teacher Resource Expo.
Rebel Hour
Prologue
So I’m not the sharpest tool in the…the brightest bulb in…let’s just say I’m hardly an Einstein. Some might even say I couldn’t even tie Einstein’s shoes…which makes me think there’s a reason I only wear sandals and slip-on sneakers.
Anywaaaay… when my loving [not really] principal Mrs. Phyllis Nix mentioned last June that there was a fourth-grade position at a neighboring school in the district, I just filed it away as ‘odd but interesting’.
But when my loving [again…not really] grade four teaching partner Joy Ann Clark mentioned the same teaching job, I reclassified it from ‘odd but interesting’ to ‘hmmm…’.
***
It’s now late August and Mrs. Nix has informed me that I’m being moved to Room 36, which through my eight years at A.B. Sweeney has been called ‘the creaking portable.’ It’s a modular classroom set so far apart from the main building that there isn’t even a Room 35…or 34…or 33, 32, or 31. Yep, I’m no Einstein shoe-tying flunky, but it was pretty clear I’d been exiled.
Now, if I were sent to this island of luxury alone, that’s one thing. But for my students to feel separate and unequal? Not good.
So what did I do the next day?
I separated us even further. Yep, I’m quite the genius.
***
“Joy Ann, here’s a thought. How ‘bout if we experiment with going completely self-contained this year?”
Eyebrows raised, she said, “Really?” Her eyes shifted off to dreamland and she nodded. It was as if she was playing out a ‘hassle-free, limited time with Brooke Page’ scenario.
“Yep,” I said. No trading students for math or language arts.”
“I guess we could always ask,” she said. Her eyes drifted, most likely to that far-off galax without me as her career millstone who thwarted her ‘All-Star Teacher’ dreams.
“Should I run this by–?”
“I can do that,” said Joy Ann.
Played right into my hands.
***
And so here I am, on Day 1, in the creaking fortress…and I’ve made a decision.
© 2019 Tim Haag
Four of the characters sit down with the author today to discuss the direction of the story’s grinding development process. Look for Character Roundtable #2 to see what the group decides. Just click on the link below to explore the project.
Ed Notions 