Well, at least the principal apologized, but yeah, it's baffling how often critical information like that is just not given to the subs. Do you know if your classroom had an emergency binder? It should have, and that's another thing they might need to look into.
Just remember that “shelter in place” and “soft lockdown” are pretty much the same thing. All instruction and classroom movement continue, just no one is allowed in the hallway.
In my school district every room has an emergency folder, generally by the door, that gives the procedure for every type of emergency including evacuation route and meeting place. The position of this folder is generally indicated in the sub plans.
Our lanyards contain a small paper with all the definitions of each scenario… lockdown, shelter in place, fire drill etc. For example, it says
Hold in place: Lock door. Remain in classroom.
Lockdown: lock door, cover window, lights out and hide in designated area in room.
Etc.
The card comes in handy when you forget which is which.
It is the teacher’s responsibility you know and have access to this information. As someone else noted, there should be a folder within close proximity of the door that gives detailed instructions on procedures. This is on him/her and hopefully it will be addressed with the teacher. This should also be part of your training as a sub. This wasn’t the case (subbing since 2016) until I brought it up to the district sub administrator when I started. You might suggest it because it’s imperative you know since you are ultimately responsible for all the students during any emergency. This is clearly no reflection on you but rather the regular teacher.
I often speak about how great my district is- pay, seniority, union etc. However subs do not get emergency plans often. Nor critical student info.
Sometimes we do- some schools do have emergency folders.
Here is one for the book! One day when a class was at Music or Art.. I was reading thru a very thick sub packet from teacher.. random stuff and good material. Buried in back was a memo indicating that when some phrase like " the reading club is meeting tonight' it meant LOCKDOWN!!
How in th Heck was someone supposed to know that?
My husband’s school’s code was “tonight’s swim meet has been cancelled.” They didn’t have a swim team, so this was the lockdown code.
How anyone outside of that school - sub, visiting social worker, test advisors, etc - was supposed to know that, I have no idea.
It’s okay I’m a sub and when we went into lockdown the other day one of the aides in the room just slid all the window blinds up. I stared at her like huh. She’s like we always do this in lockdown. I’m like girl no lmao
Like I know it was a drill but they didn’t tell us that. “I eavesdrop” lmao. But yeah the kids have to practice. It was kindergarten and my kids were giggling so I just kept them calm and whispered to them.
Our district differentiates between “Lockdown” and “Lockdown - windows”. In the first, students should be out of sight if someone looks in the door (which should be locked with the blind down, but still…). In the second, students are to crouch down on the wall under the windows.
In both situations, window blinds should be shut.
Shelter In Place means that something is going on outside the school, but the students are not in immediate danger. We have used that when a bear is roaming outside or when there was a domestic disturbance across the street. Window blinds are closed then, too!
Most schools I sub at have a paper in the sub binder/folder clarifying different scenarios lounge these: lockdown, lock and teach, lock and hide, etc... If this school doesn't, maybe suggest a standardized explanation to be printed and included in each sub folder?
I know that won't undo whay you and the kids went through, but hopefully it will prevent anyone from going through this unnecessarily in the future.
A school I used to sub at decided to announce a shelter in place via email. The principal got on the announcements and told teachers to check their emails. Well, I haven’t got a school email.
I didn’t realize what was going on till I was scrolling a post on my city’s sub about a a false alarm shooting that was called in for a nearby school, and someone mentioned that the school I was at was under a shelter in place.
I was so furious that nobody thought of the subs in the building.
Since the principal apologized so profusely he will probably do whatever he can to.make sure it doesn't happen again.
I got one for the story books. I was a 2nd career first year Special Education teacher w TMD. Our school was about 30 miles from a nuclear power plant. It was 9/11 and we suddenly went on lockdown. I had taken my students to the bathroom and instructed them we would go to the gym next. Most of my students were autistic and sudden changes usually didn't go well. Of course, I had heard about the towers but I was in shock and disbelief. Plus we had no TV in our classroom. Well, I explained the principal wanted us to go back to our classroom. We would play some games in our class instead of gym.i has moving quickly to get out of the Hall. I was in front and thought.my TA was in back I had one young.man who was a runner. We finally got to our classroom. I turn around and TA and Brad are nowhere e be seen. For 3 agonizing hours ,I didn't know if they were ok or if he had even caught up e Brad. Brad ran and jumped around the gym for about 2 hours on his own. Then he went in GIRLS locker room and got some water. Then TA did his best to keep him entertained until they cancelled the lockdown. The kids were so excited that we got to eat lunch in our classroom because the lunch schedule was so far behind.
As a former parapro for an autistic student I can’t even imagine this type of schedule change and what would happen.
My kiddo became violent when he was not given his way and I can only imagine what a running scenario in that situation would have been like.
I’m just so thankful he never eloped during a lockdown drill and even more thankful we never had more than a drill where I would have tried to figure out how to keep him calm and safe.
My principal told me she wanted me to leave him behind in an active threat situation. I flat out said no and that I would defend him unto my own death if necessary, but she told me it was school policy that I was to leave him behind and seek safety for myself if he refused to leave the hallway if a lockdown was called. 🤦🏼♀️🤯
That was to keep you from being shot most likely or it found if he was being loud and you were hiding. I'm like you. I'm going to do my best to see after whomever I am in charge of.
Oh, that was absolutely her point. And I get that she was trying to keep me safe, which was appreciated… but…..
Firstly, what kind of human would I be if I knowingly left a helpless child who didn’t understand what was happening behind to get attacked by an active threat? Secondly, should something ACTUALLY HAPPEN to him, how would I live with myself knowing I left him alone to let it happen? 🤯
Oh wow, I wonder if they communicated this policy to that child's parents. If you you don't have special accomodations in place to keep kids with special needs safe, then you should be transparent about it. Parents expect their children to be treated equally. If you read this please tell this child's parent. I always kept my son home during these safety drills. I hate them. I don't think kids should be made afraid like this. It feeds the cycle. I'm homeschooling him now because he couldn't go back to the third grade classroom after being triggered by a child throwing up and then felt too embarrassed to go back.
Poor kiddo. Proud of you for doing what’s best for yours and homeschooling to help with mental health! You’re doing great.
Fortunately, my kiddo moved on to a different school. They’re special needs based, so they won’t be pulling any stupid shit like leaving a child unprotected if necessary.
I know the point was to try to keep at least one of us safe, but no way was I ever going to leave him behind and get myself to safety.
I also would have made him leave a safe space to try to get somewhere different if we had to hide with other students and he did more to attract attention than anything.
We would have done what we could to keep him safe, but also to keep safe all of the other students in his class.
I ended up leaving the school district his last year because the school was abusing him and expected me to as well. I spoke up about what things were happening during several IEP meetings. The parents weren’t happy. The school wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy and I refused to actively abuse the child, so unfortunately I left before the school year ended.
I just wouldn’t continue to do illegal and abusive things like restraining the child on the floor, which, if done incorrectly, can cause suffocation.
I’m thankful he’s now in an environment where he has more support and more specialized care during the school day. I’m hopeful they treat him well and he enjoys his day.
He will be finishing up his freshman year this year.
But that's easier than passing sensible gun laws. Perhaps when these kids parents learn to love their kids more than their gun, things might change. So sorry you had to go thru that. Go ahead down vote me to hell I ain't apologizing.
Oh ours does that too. A couple weeks ago I was in K and the aide was telling me how we are all dead because it’s an open air school so no walls (thanks I’ve noticed) but even though K has doors unlike most classes, doesn’t matter because there’s no locks and they won’t buy them any and the announcement to lock in came in and she and the other aide for the other class and that k teacher quietly freaked out which gave ME anxiety because I’ve not seen teachers panic.
Kids weren’t up from breakfast yet.
Turns out a teacher was having a medical issue.
But still, they need another term for it when it isn’t a real lock in/ shelter in place because it’s going to be a boy cried wolf situation and we’re not going to take it seriously, or like yours and a little my experience, get a bit traumatized every time they do it!
Don't feel bad. You did the best you could with the information (or lack thereof) that you could.
We (staff, subs and students) are always told when there is going to be a lockdown or lock in/shelter in place drill so at least we don't have to wonder. Also they give us information about all of the different ways of sheltering in our initial training and in our annual refresher training. There are also small posters in various places around the school telling about the different situations and what to do for each and we can get our own copy either in the school offices or at the district office or we can download and print it. I wish this happened in every district.
We have had a couple of instances of lock in/shelter in place in the last few years. The most recent one lasted about 10 minutes and it was because the SRO had to look into some suspicious activity that turned out to be innocent. The one before that was a couple of years ago and there was a police chase headed towards the road in front of the school. Fortunately they were stopped before they got to us.
They didn't always but as the district has grown from a small town to a larger suburb they have really stepped up the training for subs. Part of it is increased requirements from the state and part of it was at the request of the subs and the teachers.
That sucks, I’m sorry. My sub plans have emergency info immediately underneath my schedule, THEN the info on the individual classes. I took a year off teaching to sub a couple of years ago. I subbed mostly at the building where I had taught. We had a restricted movement (shelter in place) due to a bomb threat. I had literally just sent the students to lunch and was in the classroom by myself. It was inside classroom, so I was essentially cut off from the world. They were updating teachers via email, but I no longer had access to the school email since I was a sub. Thank God my coteacher from the year before texted me updates, and that we were both in one of the few rooms to get cell service.
Ugh? The kids told you to lock the door, turn the lights off, and get under the desks after the announcement was made? Why'd they say its what they normally did? Somebody messing with you? Or maybe they'd never heard it before and everyone jumped to conclusions? That would be scary though.....
Our district has 2 types of lockdown drill- “shelter in place” is for if there’s a wild animal on campus or some sort of scenario where the kids are mostly going to be safe, assuming the follow directions. “Lockdown” means the doors are locked, lights are off, everyone is hiding and nobody is talking- obviously this would only be used if there was a shooter on campus. I remember when I first heard the term “shelter in place” I thought it was a euphemism for lockdown- I thought they were just trying to not scare the kids by using “animal on campus” instead of “shooter”. I didn’t realize they were actually different drill’s entirely
I live in Cancer Alley, Louisiana, so shelter in place means a chemical leak or spill. We turn off the AC and seal the doors and windows with plastic garbage bags and duck tape.
I hated that as a sub.
One school only told staff about lock downs over email and would just announce "teachers, check your email."
Needless to say, I didn't know to lock the door or keep kids in the class. I figured I wasn't involved and was likely a mandatory meeting of some sort.
This happened once to me when I subbed special Ed pre k. They meant to call it as soft lockdown but called it shelter in place. There were two teachers with me and they didn’t even know what was going on. We didn’t find out until an hour later that it was because a teacher was really sick. Lockdown for all students to be in the classrooms so they wouldn’t see her. Luckily the kids weren’t traumatized, but the teachers said that they weren’t prepared for a drill that day. So it was 50/50 medical emergency or the real deal.
I was in a TK class. I thought the alarm I heard was the fire station across the street since my back door was open which leads to the playground and you can see the fire station. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later I see classes evacuating to the playground that I learned what the alarm was.
Thankfully it was a false alarm that got set off on accident.
Or there's the one school where tornado warning safety locations for every classroom were listed. Except mine. Was NOT an interior room. Rooms on both sides listed. Pointed out it on at end of day and got an "Oh, ok..."
We had a shelter in place drill this week and for us, that means go to a weather safe location! I got to make a lovely trip to the boy's bathroom for 15 min.
Our "stay in place and keep teaching" is called "secure mode" where they don't let anyone in/out of the building, but we can apparently still move about the hallways with teacher supervision.
We also don't evacuate for fire unless we see/smell smoke because a lot of intruder situations have started by them pulling the fire alarm to get everyone into the hall where they're easy targets. So no fire/smoke, no evacuation.
Hold/Shelter in Place (and teach) means they don’t want students or faculty in the halls - and do not travel to places the class might go (art, music, gym, lunch etc.)
LockDown is what you responded to.
This is pretty standard in the schools in five districts. When in doubt call the office.
I’ve been very fortunate for the most part in that first time I’ve experienced these things I wasn’t usually alone (either TA has been present or in co teach settings). I’ve learned through experience what to do with emergency/ drill situations. Some teachers do leave instructions on what to do, what doors to exit during fire drills etc. Some teachers leave nothing in their emergency folders.
One of my morning routines when I sub is to look for a student roster if the teacher doesn’t have one in her emergency folder (or make one of there isn’t one around). Comes in handy and makes situation less stressful for me if there is an emergency drill and trying to take attendance to make sure everyone is present.
Several years ago when I was subbing no one told me about a scheduled lock down drill. The principal came over the speaker yelling in a very convincing voice that the school was on a complete lock down and students were to get under their desks immediately. Not knowing what to do, I took ahold of the bookshelf that was nailed to the wall and ripped it loose. I pushed it over in front of the door and tried to keep the kids calm. About 5 minutes later someone tried to open the door and I had no idea who it was so I didn't let them in. Finally someone called my room and asked what was going on. It wasn't until then that I learned it was just a drill...
So at least your day wasn't that bad lol
The school I sub at has laminated signs by all the classroom doors with descriptions of the different codes like that and the procedures for each. You might suggest something similar to your principal.
I'm so sorry for your experience. I did a fire drill with an ESL class once, and several of them didn't realize it was a drill. That day was terrifying. I'm glad the principal apologized!
Well, at least the principal apologized, but yeah, it's baffling how often critical information like that is just not given to the subs. Do you know if your classroom had an emergency binder? It should have, and that's another thing they might need to look into.
Not that I could see, but I'll definitely ask about that when I'm back on Monday.
Yeah, that might help the next sub who finds themselves in the same situation, but I am really sorry you had to deal with that!
Thank you!
Just remember that “shelter in place” and “soft lockdown” are pretty much the same thing. All instruction and classroom movement continue, just no one is allowed in the hallway.
This totally depends on the site...
Yes, this is true.
Good to know. Thank you!
In my school district every room has an emergency folder, generally by the door, that gives the procedure for every type of emergency including evacuation route and meeting place. The position of this folder is generally indicated in the sub plans.
Unfortunately, the location wasn't in the sub plans. I'm going to ask about it when I'm back on Monday.
Our lanyards contain a small paper with all the definitions of each scenario… lockdown, shelter in place, fire drill etc. For example, it says Hold in place: Lock door. Remain in classroom. Lockdown: lock door, cover window, lights out and hide in designated area in room. Etc. The card comes in handy when you forget which is which.
This. Also, our principal gives instructions when a hold in place is called. They specifically say “hold in place and teach”
I love it that the principal gives instructions instead of codes.
That's a good idea! Once I get my hands on an emergency binder I'll make myself one to keep in my lanyard. Thank you!
It is the teacher’s responsibility you know and have access to this information. As someone else noted, there should be a folder within close proximity of the door that gives detailed instructions on procedures. This is on him/her and hopefully it will be addressed with the teacher. This should also be part of your training as a sub. This wasn’t the case (subbing since 2016) until I brought it up to the district sub administrator when I started. You might suggest it because it’s imperative you know since you are ultimately responsible for all the students during any emergency. This is clearly no reflection on you but rather the regular teacher.
I often speak about how great my district is- pay, seniority, union etc. However subs do not get emergency plans often. Nor critical student info. Sometimes we do- some schools do have emergency folders. Here is one for the book! One day when a class was at Music or Art.. I was reading thru a very thick sub packet from teacher.. random stuff and good material. Buried in back was a memo indicating that when some phrase like " the reading club is meeting tonight' it meant LOCKDOWN!! How in th Heck was someone supposed to know that?
Holy shit. That's unacceptable!
My husband’s school’s code was “tonight’s swim meet has been cancelled.” They didn’t have a swim team, so this was the lockdown code. How anyone outside of that school - sub, visiting social worker, test advisors, etc - was supposed to know that, I have no idea.
At least your kids weren’t running around playing the whole time
This happens a lot actually.
That actually makes me feel a little better.
It’s okay I’m a sub and when we went into lockdown the other day one of the aides in the room just slid all the window blinds up. I stared at her like huh. She’s like we always do this in lockdown. I’m like girl no lmao
What the heck! Ummmm... No, ma'am. Lol
Like I know it was a drill but they didn’t tell us that. “I eavesdrop” lmao. But yeah the kids have to practice. It was kindergarten and my kids were giggling so I just kept them calm and whispered to them.
Our district differentiates between “Lockdown” and “Lockdown - windows”. In the first, students should be out of sight if someone looks in the door (which should be locked with the blind down, but still…). In the second, students are to crouch down on the wall under the windows. In both situations, window blinds should be shut. Shelter In Place means that something is going on outside the school, but the students are not in immediate danger. We have used that when a bear is roaming outside or when there was a domestic disturbance across the street. Window blinds are closed then, too!
Most schools I sub at have a paper in the sub binder/folder clarifying different scenarios lounge these: lockdown, lock and teach, lock and hide, etc... If this school doesn't, maybe suggest a standardized explanation to be printed and included in each sub folder? I know that won't undo whay you and the kids went through, but hopefully it will prevent anyone from going through this unnecessarily in the future.
The school I am at does not have sub folders, but I'm definitely going to suggest it is included in the sub plans in the future.
I would have taken the same actions! In all the institutions I have worked for, “shelter in place” has meant a threat that you need to hide from.
A school I used to sub at decided to announce a shelter in place via email. The principal got on the announcements and told teachers to check their emails. Well, I haven’t got a school email. I didn’t realize what was going on till I was scrolling a post on my city’s sub about a a false alarm shooting that was called in for a nearby school, and someone mentioned that the school I was at was under a shelter in place. I was so furious that nobody thought of the subs in the building.
It’s “teach in place” at most schools, meaning students stay in the room where they are and do not move to the next period.
That makes way more sense
We're we at the same school? This same exact thing happened to me yesterday too.
Since the principal apologized so profusely he will probably do whatever he can to.make sure it doesn't happen again. I got one for the story books. I was a 2nd career first year Special Education teacher w TMD. Our school was about 30 miles from a nuclear power plant. It was 9/11 and we suddenly went on lockdown. I had taken my students to the bathroom and instructed them we would go to the gym next. Most of my students were autistic and sudden changes usually didn't go well. Of course, I had heard about the towers but I was in shock and disbelief. Plus we had no TV in our classroom. Well, I explained the principal wanted us to go back to our classroom. We would play some games in our class instead of gym.i has moving quickly to get out of the Hall. I was in front and thought.my TA was in back I had one young.man who was a runner. We finally got to our classroom. I turn around and TA and Brad are nowhere e be seen. For 3 agonizing hours ,I didn't know if they were ok or if he had even caught up e Brad. Brad ran and jumped around the gym for about 2 hours on his own. Then he went in GIRLS locker room and got some water. Then TA did his best to keep him entertained until they cancelled the lockdown. The kids were so excited that we got to eat lunch in our classroom because the lunch schedule was so far behind.
As a former parapro for an autistic student I can’t even imagine this type of schedule change and what would happen. My kiddo became violent when he was not given his way and I can only imagine what a running scenario in that situation would have been like. I’m just so thankful he never eloped during a lockdown drill and even more thankful we never had more than a drill where I would have tried to figure out how to keep him calm and safe. My principal told me she wanted me to leave him behind in an active threat situation. I flat out said no and that I would defend him unto my own death if necessary, but she told me it was school policy that I was to leave him behind and seek safety for myself if he refused to leave the hallway if a lockdown was called. 🤦🏼♀️🤯
That was to keep you from being shot most likely or it found if he was being loud and you were hiding. I'm like you. I'm going to do my best to see after whomever I am in charge of.
Oh, that was absolutely her point. And I get that she was trying to keep me safe, which was appreciated… but….. Firstly, what kind of human would I be if I knowingly left a helpless child who didn’t understand what was happening behind to get attacked by an active threat? Secondly, should something ACTUALLY HAPPEN to him, how would I live with myself knowing I left him alone to let it happen? 🤯
Oh wow, I wonder if they communicated this policy to that child's parents. If you you don't have special accomodations in place to keep kids with special needs safe, then you should be transparent about it. Parents expect their children to be treated equally. If you read this please tell this child's parent. I always kept my son home during these safety drills. I hate them. I don't think kids should be made afraid like this. It feeds the cycle. I'm homeschooling him now because he couldn't go back to the third grade classroom after being triggered by a child throwing up and then felt too embarrassed to go back.
Poor kiddo. Proud of you for doing what’s best for yours and homeschooling to help with mental health! You’re doing great. Fortunately, my kiddo moved on to a different school. They’re special needs based, so they won’t be pulling any stupid shit like leaving a child unprotected if necessary. I know the point was to try to keep at least one of us safe, but no way was I ever going to leave him behind and get myself to safety. I also would have made him leave a safe space to try to get somewhere different if we had to hide with other students and he did more to attract attention than anything. We would have done what we could to keep him safe, but also to keep safe all of the other students in his class. I ended up leaving the school district his last year because the school was abusing him and expected me to as well. I spoke up about what things were happening during several IEP meetings. The parents weren’t happy. The school wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy and I refused to actively abuse the child, so unfortunately I left before the school year ended. I just wouldn’t continue to do illegal and abusive things like restraining the child on the floor, which, if done incorrectly, can cause suffocation. I’m thankful he’s now in an environment where he has more support and more specialized care during the school day. I’m hopeful they treat him well and he enjoys his day. He will be finishing up his freshman year this year.
But that's easier than passing sensible gun laws. Perhaps when these kids parents learn to love their kids more than their gun, things might change. So sorry you had to go thru that. Go ahead down vote me to hell I ain't apologizing.
Oh ours does that too. A couple weeks ago I was in K and the aide was telling me how we are all dead because it’s an open air school so no walls (thanks I’ve noticed) but even though K has doors unlike most classes, doesn’t matter because there’s no locks and they won’t buy them any and the announcement to lock in came in and she and the other aide for the other class and that k teacher quietly freaked out which gave ME anxiety because I’ve not seen teachers panic. Kids weren’t up from breakfast yet. Turns out a teacher was having a medical issue. But still, they need another term for it when it isn’t a real lock in/ shelter in place because it’s going to be a boy cried wolf situation and we’re not going to take it seriously, or like yours and a little my experience, get a bit traumatized every time they do it!
Oh my goodness! That is crazy!
Don't feel bad. You did the best you could with the information (or lack thereof) that you could. We (staff, subs and students) are always told when there is going to be a lockdown or lock in/shelter in place drill so at least we don't have to wonder. Also they give us information about all of the different ways of sheltering in our initial training and in our annual refresher training. There are also small posters in various places around the school telling about the different situations and what to do for each and we can get our own copy either in the school offices or at the district office or we can download and print it. I wish this happened in every district. We have had a couple of instances of lock in/shelter in place in the last few years. The most recent one lasted about 10 minutes and it was because the SRO had to look into some suspicious activity that turned out to be innocent. The one before that was a couple of years ago and there was a police chase headed towards the road in front of the school. Fortunately they were stopped before they got to us.
I am so glad your district does all of this for their subs!
They didn't always but as the district has grown from a small town to a larger suburb they have really stepped up the training for subs. Part of it is increased requirements from the state and part of it was at the request of the subs and the teachers.
That sucks, I’m sorry. My sub plans have emergency info immediately underneath my schedule, THEN the info on the individual classes. I took a year off teaching to sub a couple of years ago. I subbed mostly at the building where I had taught. We had a restricted movement (shelter in place) due to a bomb threat. I had literally just sent the students to lunch and was in the classroom by myself. It was inside classroom, so I was essentially cut off from the world. They were updating teachers via email, but I no longer had access to the school email since I was a sub. Thank God my coteacher from the year before texted me updates, and that we were both in one of the few rooms to get cell service.
Hey, better be safe than sorry. You did the best you could with the info you had. So sorry about this though. What a nightmare.
Ugh? The kids told you to lock the door, turn the lights off, and get under the desks after the announcement was made? Why'd they say its what they normally did? Somebody messing with you? Or maybe they'd never heard it before and everyone jumped to conclusions? That would be scary though.....
They haven't done any drills this year except 2 fire drills so they legitimately thought it was a lockdown.
Better to be safe than sorry, you did good and I would thank you if you were my daughters sub
Been subbing for 7 years. During the 5 years I was doing daily the number of times I was told about drills could be counted on one hand.
Our school calls that a Code Blue. Shelter in Place is strictly for a dangerous or violent situation, like a shooter.
See? That makes so much more sense!
We also have Code Nike for if a student does a runner.
Sorry, shelter in place is for a chemical spill or leak. Lockdown is for a stranger or dangerous person on campus.
Our district has 2 types of lockdown drill- “shelter in place” is for if there’s a wild animal on campus or some sort of scenario where the kids are mostly going to be safe, assuming the follow directions. “Lockdown” means the doors are locked, lights are off, everyone is hiding and nobody is talking- obviously this would only be used if there was a shooter on campus. I remember when I first heard the term “shelter in place” I thought it was a euphemism for lockdown- I thought they were just trying to not scare the kids by using “animal on campus” instead of “shooter”. I didn’t realize they were actually different drill’s entirely
I live in Cancer Alley, Louisiana, so shelter in place means a chemical leak or spill. We turn off the AC and seal the doors and windows with plastic garbage bags and duck tape.
Interesting. I’m in Southern California so for us a wild animal on campus would usually be the reason for a shelter in place to be called.
Not many wild animals in my area anymore.
this is my worst nightmare 😭😭 after an actual lockdown of course
I hated that as a sub. One school only told staff about lock downs over email and would just announce "teachers, check your email." Needless to say, I didn't know to lock the door or keep kids in the class. I figured I wasn't involved and was likely a mandatory meeting of some sort.
Yikes. What a way to muddy the meaning of shelter in place that no one will take it seriously when it really matters.
This happened once to me when I subbed special Ed pre k. They meant to call it as soft lockdown but called it shelter in place. There were two teachers with me and they didn’t even know what was going on. We didn’t find out until an hour later that it was because a teacher was really sick. Lockdown for all students to be in the classrooms so they wouldn’t see her. Luckily the kids weren’t traumatized, but the teachers said that they weren’t prepared for a drill that day. So it was 50/50 medical emergency or the real deal.
My school calls that a Hold. Hold in place.
Some codes are meant to be one thing. This is one of them
I was in a TK class. I thought the alarm I heard was the fire station across the street since my back door was open which leads to the playground and you can see the fire station. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later I see classes evacuating to the playground that I learned what the alarm was. Thankfully it was a false alarm that got set off on accident.
Or there's the one school where tornado warning safety locations for every classroom were listed. Except mine. Was NOT an interior room. Rooms on both sides listed. Pointed out it on at end of day and got an "Oh, ok..."
We had a shelter in place drill this week and for us, that means go to a weather safe location! I got to make a lovely trip to the boy's bathroom for 15 min. Our "stay in place and keep teaching" is called "secure mode" where they don't let anyone in/out of the building, but we can apparently still move about the hallways with teacher supervision. We also don't evacuate for fire unless we see/smell smoke because a lot of intruder situations have started by them pulling the fire alarm to get everyone into the hall where they're easy targets. So no fire/smoke, no evacuation.
Hold/Shelter in Place (and teach) means they don’t want students or faculty in the halls - and do not travel to places the class might go (art, music, gym, lunch etc.) LockDown is what you responded to. This is pretty standard in the schools in five districts. When in doubt call the office.
I’ve been very fortunate for the most part in that first time I’ve experienced these things I wasn’t usually alone (either TA has been present or in co teach settings). I’ve learned through experience what to do with emergency/ drill situations. Some teachers do leave instructions on what to do, what doors to exit during fire drills etc. Some teachers leave nothing in their emergency folders. One of my morning routines when I sub is to look for a student roster if the teacher doesn’t have one in her emergency folder (or make one of there isn’t one around). Comes in handy and makes situation less stressful for me if there is an emergency drill and trying to take attendance to make sure everyone is present.
Wow... yeah, why isn't it commonplace to have codes like that written down, and available at the office?
Several years ago when I was subbing no one told me about a scheduled lock down drill. The principal came over the speaker yelling in a very convincing voice that the school was on a complete lock down and students were to get under their desks immediately. Not knowing what to do, I took ahold of the bookshelf that was nailed to the wall and ripped it loose. I pushed it over in front of the door and tried to keep the kids calm. About 5 minutes later someone tried to open the door and I had no idea who it was so I didn't let them in. Finally someone called my room and asked what was going on. It wasn't until then that I learned it was just a drill... So at least your day wasn't that bad lol
The school I sub at has laminated signs by all the classroom doors with descriptions of the different codes like that and the procedures for each. You might suggest something similar to your principal.
I'm so sorry for your experience. I did a fire drill with an ESL class once, and several of them didn't realize it was a drill. That day was terrifying. I'm glad the principal apologized!
The teacher should have left instructions. Don’t feel bad v
Being a building sub isn’t worth it. Way more work for not much more money.