It doesn’t matter what
the role in education,
whether teacher or coach
or media specialist or
administrator: one truth
holds true. I learned it
in the 1990s from my
partner teachers. The
back-to-school
nightmares hit hard
and on time. The world
of dreams mysteriously
knows that school for
students starts here
Monday, so last night
I was walking a class
down a hall of a
school I’d never seen
and lost them all
on the first day.
They were second
graders. I haven’t
taught a classroom
of second graders
since 2003, but
here I was in my
nightmare, losing
every one of them,
wandering the halls
and calling for them,
knowing I’d be fired
when their mothers
showed up, but
finally discovering they
had all gone to the
library. I stepped
into the murky
haze of the dream
to find they were
all reading books,
scattered all
across the floor
in their own quiet
spaces, not one
saying a word.
And I realized:
my nightmare
had become my
best back-to-school
dream ever.
I chose a book
and collapsed into
the library couch to
read, too
I learned this last night:
when you’re having
a night terror, look for
the library. It turns
nightmares into dreams.
Common Threads 