a.l.i.c.e.

School was a big deal today. It was a morning of classes and an "active shooter" training in the afternoon. This video is the program ALICE, our training did not have any students present or involved but it did have simulated gunfire.



I'm not going to lie--it was an eye-opener. The purpose of the training was to simulate active shooter scenarios giving the teachers and all support staff (custodians, secretaries, lunch ladies) an opportunity to try the ALICE strategies and debrief what worked, what didn't work, and how the plan could be tweaked to meet our specific school needs, scenario after scenario for each strategy. I mean, you think you know how you would respond or even that you would be able to respond, but when it gets hectic, loud, chaotic, and adrenaline is pumping, let me say, there were a wide variety of reactions.

The training officers were fantastic at what they were doing. When they noticed that I was with a couple of colleagues and we were obviously having emotional reactions (crying and visibly shaken up), they were very kind and honored our reactions. They gave us earplugs and had us stay in a safe space for some of the simulations and also told us step-by-step what the upcoming scenarios would entail.

I never, ever, thought that my teaching career would include this kind of training. And after twenty years of teaching, I'm not sure I want to contend with this as the norm. I love teaching. I love being a role model. I take both very seriously. I deliberately and mindfully try to connect with each student. I love my students. I don't love ALICE.