You know that scene in

The Wizard of Oz, the one where the house drops on top on the Witch and kills her?

I had a stranger version of that today.

I have one of these in my class:

The top drawer AKA- the Marker Drawer got stuck shut---it ALWAYS gets stuck shut b/c a student will forget to make sure none of the markers are situated in such a way that causes a sort of jam since the drawers are so narrow.

Well, we use our markers ALL the time. We use them for highlighting, outlining, decorating, etc. and the kids have gone without them for almost a week b/c the maintenance workers are working on keeping the water pipes and other important things running smoothly.

So today, while getting my students ready for PE, I noticed most of my boys quickly crowding around this beast of a organizer. I walk over, and I see half of them tilting this heavy object in their direction, and I then look down and see a pair of legs underneath. I instantly freaked out- but quietly so, so as to NOT freak them out, causing them to drop it on this student.

"Gentlemen, thank you for wanting to help, but this is not the safest way to fix the marker drawer. I wish to see all of my students walking and not in a wheelchair b/c of some crazy stunt."

Students: But it's almost fixed, almost, we can hold it- we are strong.

Me: Trying not to panic...__________ , please come out, now!!!...as it is PE time and we are holding up the girls.

Student crawls out and then I hear them chatting it up in Yupik- and I then hear the words screw driver, hammer, and stick.

Me: I got this- I can get it fixed. Please don't worry, I will find someone.

So, thinking that this is now a done deal and I have nothing to worry about, I go through the day, dismiss my students, start cleaning up my desk and then see a group of my 6th grade boys walk in again.

I walked across the classroom thinking they wanted to ask me something, and they walked right past me to the beast.

Me: Guys- leave it alone.

Students: We got this, we figured this out.

All of a sudden they ripped the front part off with the handle, grabbed a ruler and somehow got the drawer opened.

They all turned to me and this is what I hear after I whooped and hollered "FREEDOM!"- not realizing that this drawer has just been destroyed.

Student: So, you are going to borrow a screw driver to fix this.
Me: I don't have one.
Another student: Well, we don't have one.
Me: I didn't break this off.
Another student: What do we get for fixing this.
Me: Are you serious???? You scared me half to death this morning, disregarded me a few moments ago, and then broke the drawer and I have to explain this to Mr. F____________, do you want to explain this to him???

All of a sudden they just walked out.

Good to know I have fixer-uppers in the classroom. Bad to know that if there is anything that needs to be fixed in the classroom, I'll have to watch it like a hawk until maintenance fixes it.