Earth Date, March 2026
Context: Ramadan, Lent, war in Iran, the week before March Break
Monday, Break -5: Finally succumbing to whatever bug has been decimating attendance, I stay home sick; some students do some of the work I’ve left for them.
Tuesday, B -4: Student walk out (to protest provincial changes to education) starts at lunch and continues into the afternoon; workers in the neighbourhood accidentally cut the power lines; things goes dark; school is dismissed early.
Wednesday, B -3: Major ice storm predicted; buses cancelled; teachers must attend school but students do not; I have a total of two students attend class; in the end, the freezing rain mostly misses us.
Thursday, B -2: Intruder in the school; “secure the school” called during morning classes; person is “given support”; afternoon classes continue as normal; student attendance is dwindling; everyone is exhausted; one day to go.
Friday, B -1: Do we even want to imagine what might happen tomorrow? We had a fire alarm pull last week, so that’s done. We haven’t had a flood, but I feel like ice sort of covers water issues. Earthquake? Tornado? Unexpected solar eclipse? Time out of joint? Cross your fingers that we make it to our break.
Persistence and Pedagogy 
The countdown structure makes it clear that you feel, “under the gun,” you and your students as well. Fingers crossed tomorrow goes without a hitch. Smooth sailing into a much-deserved vacation.
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Brilliant structure and format for this post! I’m not sure when my jaw dropped at your week, but at some point I realized it was hanging open as I was reading. It didn’t seem possible that there could be just one more disruption, but sure enough! I hope tomorrow is VERY serene! Break really can’t come quickly enough!
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What a week. The phrase “limping to the finish line” comes to mind, but your situation is somehow more than a limp. I, too enjoyed the B -4, B-3 structure. It sort of implies something even more dramatic at B-1, but life doesn’t always follow art. If I were the AI bot that JetPack provides me, I would say, “Consider defining “given support” as your readers may be confused by that term. I hope you have a great break. I know it would improve my writing if we had a few days off right about now, but you REALLY need it.
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Oh man, you beautifully, sadly captured the ominous feeling that’s hanging over everything right now. And things in your personal world also sound so stressful — I hope next week brings some peace.
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