180/365 Oh, that's why

When we rearranged classrooms in the school, putting the 3rd and 4th grades upstairs together and the whole middle school on the middle floor--not the greatest solution, but the best for the space we had at the time--I snatched up the old 3rd grade room for my own as quickly as I could. I was tired of the morning sun. More than that, I was tired of coming home coated in chalk dust. The new room had new boards, while mine had plywood painted with chalkboard spray paint.

I moved in during the summer, stealing good desks from classrooms where teachers had quit. I wanted all flat-top desks and good chalkboards and that was all, really. I needed no technology, no newfangled teacher's desk or chair. I always kept my desk out of the way and sat there only during quiet work time after a lesson anyway. I thought teachers who put their desks in front of the chalkboard were psychologically controlling access to information. My desk was static in a corner and children's desks moved around depending on the subject and my whimsy.

The teacher before me had put her desk in front of the north-side chalkboard. But I liked to be able to see out a window when I could. Later in the year this became valuable, to see who was walking where and what cars had pulled up in the parking lot. But that summer, I just put my desk in the southeast corner, facing west, and went home.

I always started my days early in August and September. By late April I would breeze in with the kids and fly by the seat of my pants, but I was a planner in the beginnings of years. And so I was there one morning, ready for the day at about 7. I sat at my desk and looked around the room, happy with my arrangement and my position at the school. I looked out the window and noticed something.

My view looked right into the rectory. Yeah, it was slightly frosted glass, but it was slightly frosted glass in front of a shower. And there was Fr. Bill. Getting ready for his day.

Perhaps that's why the former occupant of that room had put her desk on the north wall. I debated moving things around, but changed my mind. The shades pulled down just fine.