One of the keys to teaching?  Playing it cool no matter what happens.

So I am kind of short.  I was giving a lesson on how to load film onto the reels and into the tanks.  They are on shelves.  I hike myself up onto the counter to easily reach the stuff and to be easily seen by all the kids.  Well, by period 6 I was losing a little bit of my mojo and misjudged.  My left butt cheek didn't clear the counter.  Instead, full force direct contact with the edge of the counter.  The pain was phenomenal.  But I didn't let on.  I might have flinched for a brief second.  But the kids never knew.  I didn't miss a beat.  But the colours that appeared?  Oh, such beautiful reds, greens, purples, and eggplants.

So I had a former student stop by with her senior sister yesterday to pick up a camera for the sis.  I wanted to chat more, but, to be honest, my tush hurt.  Good thing we left at 3.05.  By the time I got home?  Four e-mails from photo kids.  I even had the ipad with me at dinner to field questions.  I do not want to let the kids down because they have been so remarkable this year.  The attention, respect, cooperation, and diligence in knowing how to handle the camera are just amazing.  I went outside to water the veggies and herbs for 20 minutes and missed two e-mails and felt real bad.

So I contemplated bringing the heating pad to sit on at work, but people would think I had hemorrhoids.  So I will just sit leaning to the right.  At least I don't sit much when I teach.  According to the pedometer, I am between 2.5 and 3 miles a day and that is without having to travel for another class.  Let' see how high it gets when the kids start printing in the darkroom.   I will be a bit slowed down this week.  The cheek hurts with every step I make.  I might borrow an ice pack from the nurse.  Or I could just chip off some of the ice in our film fridge and put it in a baggie.  Art teachers are resourceful like that.