There was so much noise from the idle chatter among the thirty students, it was impossible to even consider trying to think. No one seemed to have any type of control over the group. I had been called in by the school to cover the former teacher who was now out on surgical leave. So much for retirement.

After ten minutes of standing behind the desk with no indication of neither recognition nor reprieve from the noise, I decided to take control. By putting the tip of my thumb to the tip of my middle finger and then placing this configuration into my mouth on a slightly curled tongue I was able to produce a piercing whistle. The shrill cut through the noise like a fog horn. Silence then prevailed.

"Right! Now I would like everyone to sit in their seats; you know the ones that you were originally assigned to. You have two minutes, so hop to it." I calmly said.

There were a few mutters and grumbles, which was rewarded with another shrill whistle and an abrupt "Now!"

With everyone sitting in what I hoped were the right spots I proceeded with roll call.
"Starting with the front seat on my left, going back the row then down the second row to the front and so forth, I would like to hear everyone's name. Those speaking should be the only ones speaking and doing so clearly. Understood?"

A couple of hands went up, quickly followed by "Who are you? You are?"

I chose to ignore those requests and simply stated "When roll call is completed I will tell you who I am, why I am here and how we are going to do things."

I pointed to the person at the front of the left-hand row, and by the time we were done there were only two mix ups which were corrected. I definitely had their attention.

"I am Mrs. Armstrong, Mrs. Trenton has had to have emergency surgery and will be out for a few weeks. While I am here, you will arrive between 0815 and 0830-not before and not after. During the fifteen minutes you may have quiet conversations. At 0830 there will be silence, class will start. The first hour will be going over homework assignments, if you have questions then one of the other students will attempt to answer it. Of course, hands will be raised before any questions or comments. You are all adults and therefore will behave as such, you are all here to learn and learn you will. If anyone is not comfortable with this plan, then please feel free to get up now and leave. Oh, and by the way, homework assignments will be completed daily. Some days I will randomly collect and view during lunch break. I do not suggest that you at any time leave it undone. Now you have ten minutes to decide to stay or leave."

It was a long ten minutes. During this time I scanned the room for possible trouble makers, noting that there were only three potentials. Not really all that bad. Ten percent was actually quite good.

I had talked to Mrs. Trenton late Saturday; she had called to bring me up to date on the class. She had only been teaching them about three weeks, so she was still learning them herself. She had taken a tumble in the parking lot Friday evening and was now out on Workers Compensation until her two breaks were healed and she was reported fit to return to work. It would be a minimum of eight weeks and more likely twelve. She had been firm and they were all learning the anatomy they would need for their chosen careers as medical office assistants. She did report that some were not as enthusiastic about doing homework as she had hoped. I reassured her that they would be a changed group when she got back and she chuckled.

Ten minutes had passed and no one departed. I was starting to feel good about this class.
"Okay, now since this is Monday and I need to know where you are at with your studies; I will start with a few questions and then we will review up to the point you were at with Mrs. Trenton. There will be no assigned homework for tonight nor tomorrow night, but it would be wise to review."

I deliberately picked one of my potential problem children / adults to bring me up to date. He was polite enough to ask if he should stand and his response was very good. I was a bit surprised but hid it well. I turned to another potential problem to see if anything needed to be added and her response was that he was correct. I was beginning to think that perhaps they were not problems but more so bored.