Friday, April 10, 2015

Teaching Nightmare

Okay, most recent dream. I was teaching at a new school and it was the first  day of classes. I was running late because I couldn't find my classroom.

I went to a room, sat down, and realized it was a Spanish class. But for some reason I stayed there for a while and listened! At some point, several students got up and moved around. I took this opportunity to leave. The teacher asked me where I was going and I replied on top of the hullabaloo "I'm a teacher." He sort of chuckled, then asked me to repeat myself. I said, a bit louder, "I'm a TEACHER!" He thought this was hilarious and proceeded to laugh in my face as I struggled to get out of the classroom.

I was carrying a purse, a bag with work materials, and my shoes. That's right, I'd been walking around this whole time in my stocking feet.

I wandered around for at LEAST 20 minutes looking for my room. It was listed as "MC" in my paperwork, which was new because apparently the original info given to me was incorrect. MC meant section M (of the building), room C. I went to a help desk and the dude made eye contact with me, totally ignored me, then walked away. I waved as if to say "Um, HELLO, I need help." A more accommodating woman showed up next. She explained that the dude decided I didn't need any help "because [I was] able to wave." What?!!

When I finally found the room, it looked like a fast food drive thru, set very close to other identical drive thrus. My class was standing around, but someone took me away to do something. I set my stuff down on a counter and that's when I realized that my shoes were missing. But I couldn't be bothered with that. I exclaimed to the person who was leading me God-knows-where that "I can't play music in that environment. It's a music class and I CAN'T TEACH A MUSIC CLASS WITHOUT PLAYING MUSIC!"

That's the last thing that happened before I woke up. This is actually a more elaborate version of a recurring stress dream I have, in which it's the first day of school and I can't find my class. I also often dream that it's the last day of classes and I've just discovered there was a class I was supposed to teach that I didn't know about. Gotta love being a teacher with an active imagination and lots of built-up anxiety!

Originally written April 10, 2015