Slice of life: the zone

It is last period on a rainy Friday. I am teaching a 10th grade reading class. Not an English class, a reading class. It is a dream come true for this inner city high school teacher. The class is quiet. We are in what Nancy Atwell would call “The Zone.” I am being observed by my principal. The bell rings and the voice on the overhead says please prepare for your afternoon announcements. All of us… the students, me and even my principal (she brought a book to the class because she knew we did Reading Zone) snap to attention, look around to make sure we were not the only ones that forgot time and space….remember we were in The Zone.

I look up at my principal.
Shoot- I think… I got too into my book that I forgot my closure portion of the class.
She is laughing with some girls in the back. She was in The Zone too.

Marquis, a student known to the front office for being a pest in class ,lowers his book, his feet still on the chair in front of him. He looks at me and  says “ Miss, Imma be like this all weekend.” The class laughs. Totally worth missing closure portion of my class even during an observation!