Institute Day

A few times each year, teachers gather for a variety of meetings and presentations in order to help us become better educators. It’s a win-win situation.



My students sometimes wonder what happens when we teachers go to school without them.



I’m a nephalist, actually (that word is way cooler than “teetotaler”), but if anything were to drive me to the pewter pot, institute day just might do the trick.

Take today, for example. Pretty much all the schools in the county kicked out their kids so we could hold department-specific gatherings. Like always, I had a difficult time choosing which seminar to attend.




As usual, however, my compunction won out and I went to the Language Arts meeting after all. In fact, I looked forward to it: it was held at my old high school,



organized by my favorite English teacher ever,



and boasted a creative, if misleading, title.



The opening session was held in the auditorium.



Then came three break-out opportunities. My posse and I divided and conquered, and we compared notes between events.








At 2:00 we returned to the auditorium to watch a dramatization of the life of Mark Twain. Because teachers are much like students, most of the audience sat toward the back.






















So we did.