Greatest Achievement Since Learning How To Walk

This is a response to a Vanity Fair survey question "What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?" This was an assignment in my Technology & Teaching Language Learners class at NYU. At the risk of sounding like a complete, gloating a--hole, I choose to re-post because I do not really care and I love to eat lunch.

I pack my lunch every day. Almost every day. That is what I consider to be my current greatest achievement.

I cannot remember the moment it began but it has changed my life as a teacher. Be it the morning of or the night before, I have packed a lunch for school for the past three years saving a modest chunk of money and precious minutes during the ever precious Lunch 'hour'. Though it takes no time at all to run down the street and grab lunch (approximately 15 minutes), for a teacher those minutes can be invaluable. Not to mention the hassle of trying to be efficient when getting out that door. While the students line up with their lunches and jackets, I, too, need to have my jacket and wallet on hand so I can go straight out the front doors which are located right next to the cafeteria. Without my jacket and wallet, I would have to spend two-minutes walking back up to the classroom, a path which inevitably coincides with a fellow teacher on their lunch hour. This teacher is strolling down the hallway, asking about my day, reflecting on how tiring Mondays are, reciting a poem her student composed for her over the weekend. She is able to meander in this way for one reason. She has packed her lunch. I, on the other hand, am nearing a tantrum state of mind as those precious minutes fly by listening to her stories. Now my lunch hour has dwindled down from 45 minutes to 30 minutes. After buying lunch and coming back to my classroom, I look up to see that I have 10 minutes to eat. 5 minutes if I want to squeeze in a bathroom run.

I pack my lunch every day. By packing a lunch I, too, can stroll. And not just that, but I can also plan a lesson, plan a day, plan a week, catch up with a friend, write an email, read an email, daydream, nap... the possibilities are endless with a packed lunch. Because the most invaluable item in a teacher's packed lunch is Time.

Almost every day.
1st grade
PS 199