Friday, January 25, 2008

Fire Hazard


A blurry pic of my blistered leg (it is upside down, sorry).


The damage done to my good Gap pants.

Well, this is kind of embarrassing, but something definitely worth sharing. Yesterday (1/24/08) I arrived at my classroom to find that the heat was not working. It was a frigid 50 degrees and after having a short meeting with some teachers before school, my friend, Scott Olds (the science teacher) offered to bring over a hot plate (which is really just a single stove top burner) from his room that I could put over by my desk to at least have some warmth in the room. I accepted and decided to place the plugged in hot plate underneath my desk, in an effort to hide it from the fire marshal that was visiting our school that morning. I continued through the morning, teaching my first block class (US History and English combined--comprising two class periods). My students and I were wearing our coats as I taught for those first two hours of the day. When the bell rang for them to leave class, I went back to my desk and sat down to take attendance. All of the sudden, I couldn't believe how hot it was down there in such a short time. It felt like I was sitting right next to a campfire and my leg hairs were being singed (burnt, not singing songs). I quickly looked down and saw that my left pant leg was on fire! One of my students had walked in to place her books on her desk and I said, "Ashley, help me, I'm on fire!" She nonchalantly walked over to her desk and sat her stuff down and then looked back at me and yelled, "You really are on fire!" I wasn't quite sure how to put out the fire and especially stop it from spreading up my leg. I tried blowing on it, slapping at it with my hand, and stomping on it with my other foot. I even thought, "Stop, drop, and roll." Then I thought, "That won't really help with this fire around my ankle." My next thought was to drop my pants and step on it, but this didn't seem like such a good choice with a young female student in the room. So I continued to swat it with my hands, finally deciding I would just have to smother it with my hands. This was finally successful; however, it left me with a few blisters on my fingers and other blisters on my leg, only one of which is pretty serious.

My next concern was that I was going to set off the sprinkler system in my room and the fire alarm throughout the school. I could imagine what the news report would say, "Teacher lights own pants on fire and ruins school." I was able to open the windows and push the smoke out, leaving pant ash as I ran to the window. My student, Ashley, left for her next class after we had a good laugh and she had put out a small paper fire over by my desk by stomping on it (she had just come in to drop off her books before heading to orchestra). Five minutes later, when I was walking downstairs to report the incident to my principal, I walked past another student of mine who said, "So, I heard you set yourself on fire Mr. Fuller." It's amazing how fast news travels in a middle school. The rest of the day was spent with colleagues and students laughing until tears flowed or sides hurt. One teacher came in with her medical gloves and first aid kit in hand. The ribbing continued throughout the next day, as teachers used the incident to cheer up a dreary, cold January day. I received a fire-themed gift every class period from other teachers. By the end of the day, my desk was covered in flames, fire candies, fire engines, fire dogs, and a specially-made fire safety manual just for me. This is an experience that will always stay with me; I am pretty sure that I won't be able to escape it. I can picture them teasing me at my future retirement party, 25 years from now, still reminiscing about the time that Fuller lit his own pants on fire.


Here is a picture of my desk at the end of the day on Friday.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Does anyone else feel like you are watching history in the making?



Throughout the past year, I have struggled with deciding between the myriad of candidates running for president. I have conflicting feelings. Growing up in Utah, I feel like I have been indoctrinated into thinking that the Republicans are right. Being a member of the LDS church, I feel like I should show my support for an LDS candidate that actually has a somewhat legitimate shot at being in the White House. Although I despise Mrs. Clinton, I do recognize this moment as one that might not happen again for a very long time--seeing a woman as the leader of our country (granted, this is not even remotely close enough of a motivator to vote for her). Throughout all of this, there has been one man that has inspired me. After reading his book, The Audacity of Hope, I fell for Obama's love for our country and for the way that his words motivate me to be a better American. After watching his win in Iowa and listening to his speech, I really felt that I was watching history being made.

I often have my students read primary sources in the 8th grade US History class that I teach. We read great speeches made by Abraham Lincoln, MLK Jr, JFK.....I felt like this speech could be up there. I can imagine that future generations might be studying the speeches from a Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Obama. Are these reminiscent of the Lincoln-Douglas debates? All I know is that I am grateful to have a candidate that inspires change in America's citizens. It is refreshing to hear someone so eloquently speak about our great country and the hope that he has for America. I don't agree with some of his policies (health care, merit pay for teachers....), but I can't help but get caught up in a renewed sense of hope about the greatness of this country.