This morning, I yawned and covered my mouth. It was one of those long, drawn out yawns and once I was finished, I started laughing! I laughed because I thought of a memory from my first years teaching. The memory is from back when I taught English. My Mom looked at me this morning quizzically and asked me why I was laughing.
I laid the entire story out not really thinking she would laugh but my heart was warmed at the memory! I was teaching a novel, I’m not sure which one it was, (The Outsiders, Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, or Surviving the Applewhites) but I stood on the right side of the overhead projector in front of the class. (This had to be in 2008, hence, the overhead projector). Because I was teaching a novel, I had printed out the vocabulary words and definitions onto the overheads so I had a stack of overheads that had the various definitions on them in my hand.
I felt a yawn coming on so I turned my head to the left and covered my mouth with the papers that were in my right hand. The papers that were in my hand were clear overhead sheets! It was again, one of those long, drawn out yawns. My students saw the ENTIRE thing because they were clear papers that I was holding. My students did not start laughing until one of them let me know that they could see my mouth as a yawned.
We all started to laugh as I apologized for them having to see that! My heart was warmed thinking of that entire class of seventh graders laughing. I hadn’t thought of that memory in a very long time but my long, drawn out yawn this morning made me think of it. My heart has been warmed by this memory all day!