Chapter 5

This chapter was interesting in that the narrator started off talking about her personal life rather than her work life. She discussed the relationship she had with what I assume to be an ex-boyfriend Joc. Torey talks about how she and Joc are actually very different but that they seemed to work out okay. On the other hand, he was starting to get very frustrated with her because she couldn't seem to "leave her work at home." The incident she recalls happened when a friend and teacher gave her an idea for making ice cream with students in class. Rather than go out to dinner with Joc, Torey tells him she wants to stay in and try the idea. He becomes very frustrated with this and does not understand why Torey is so absorbed in the lives of these kids. They end up going out, but she hints that Joc was not "the one" for her because of his failure to understand her passion.

The next day Torey is trying to organize the materials to make ice cream with Lori and Boo. Things start off shaky as Boo takes the mixing bowl and puts it on his head and runs around the room. When they finally get the bowl away from Boo, Lori puts cream in the bowl and decides she is strong enough to bring the mixture over to the center table. Torey tells her not to and to just wait until she is ready to help, but Lori insists and continues to bring the bowl over. She ends up dropping the bowl, which smashes into pieces, leaving the heavy cream to spill all over Lori as well as the floor. This ends up being a scary moment for Torey, because when she goes to talk to Lori, Lori keeps repeating the same phrases "I didn't mean to", "I'm sorry", and "Are you gonna wup me?" over and over. It seems as though Lori is not speaking to Torey, but to someone else. Torey never finds out if this is a seizure or a psychotic episode, but it is one of the scarier moments in her career.

This chapter brought about two very different but important situations to think about. Going back to the Joc situation, I think it is important for me to be with someone who would understand my compassion for students, and have the understanding that as a teacher my work is never REALLY done at the end of the day when I leave the building.

This chapter also made me a little nervous for scary situations which I'm sure all teachers have to face at one point or another, varying in how extreme of course. I hope that I will be able to have the resources and support to handle a situation where I am concerned about the physical/mental health of a student.