Saturday, December 1, 2012

Time Displacement in the Classroom?

[originally written Wednesday 11/28/2012]


I am a high school teacher. Today, in one of my classes, something kind of interesting happened: First of all, we are on block scheduling in the school where I teach.  That means that we have periods 1-4 on one day, and 5-8 on the second day.  And it always rotates like that. So the kids I saw today I hadn't seen since Monday.  However, when the kids in my second class began showing up, I felt like I had just seen them yesterday.  I don't think I said anything, but when the kids from my 3rd class began showing up, one boy walked in and said, "I feel like I was just in here."  I told him I'd felt the same way.  Then another student walked in, unaware of the first student's remark, and she said, "I feel like I just had this class."  The first student and I were sort of mystified at that point.  Then, another student walked in and said, "I feel like I haven't had this class forever."  Well, that was odd.  It was odd that he felt the opposite of what three of us were feeling, but perhaps odder that so many of us seemed to feel displaced in time.  Then, another student walked in, stopped suddenly, and said, "Something feels different in this room."  (Now, not to dampen the intrigue, but he had missed the previous two classes and during that time I had some new things up on one of the walls.)  I then exclaimed, "What is going on..." and proceeded to review all the strange comments.  One of the students replied suddenly, "We might all be dead!"  Of course, that was hilarious, but it was still intriguing.  

Who knows?  It's one of those things that can't quite be categorized, but really interests me.  Maybe there was some upset in the time/space continuum.  lol.  

- Naomi West