The Empathy Barometer: A Day of Quantum Ripples

Prompt:

Detail how a tiny fluctuation in your mood creates a cascade of events leading to a revolution in special education across the multiverse.

The day began like any other - I got out of bed with the familiar sense of urgency of someone who is perpetually just barely on time. As I walked out the door, I did a quick check of my empathy barometer and noticed the needle's slight quiver to the left.

8:15 AM: As I am scanning through a sea of email requests, questions, and action items, I hear the vibration of my phone on my desk. I glance over and see the text from Ava: “Do you have time for a quick case consult?” I sigh. Ava always needs a quick case consult. How big is the fire this time? As I look back at my computer, intending to ignore her text until I finish responding to emails, I remember - my empathy barometer. It was in the orange zone today, lower than my baseline level. I pick up my phone and respond to Ava: “Yes, calling you now.”

8:50 AM: After our conversation, Ava feels assured and confident with the plan we had discussed. She decides to step outside her office and get a quick pulse on how the day is going at her school. She feels a drop of water hit her forehead as it begins to sprinkle outside. She spots the door to the extensive support needs special day class (SDC) open slightly and Johnny pops his head out. Knowing that Johnny likes to elope to the play structure, Ava greets him and gently redirects him back into the classroom.

9:00 AM: Valerie, the SDC teacher looks up from her small reading group and quickly scans the room in slight panic. Oh no, where is Johnny? Did he sneak out again? It’s raining outside and the play structure will be slippery. She lets out an audible sigh when she spots him, exactly where he is supposed to be, working on a math activity with one of the paraeducators, Sam. “That group looks super focused and engaged, Sam,” she calls out to him. “Great work!”

10:15 AM: Relieved that he doesn’t have to write an incident report during his break today, Sam decides to sit on the bench outside of the fourth-grade wing. It’s the only bench on campus that is covered, so today it is the only dry place to sit outside.

10:25 AM: As Sam is enjoying his break, he sees a student exit a classroom to his left, visibly upset. It’s a boy named Christian. Sam knows him because Johnny has the same general education teacher as him.

“What’s wrong, Christian? Do you want to talk about it?” Christian walks over to Sam and shares with him that he was stuck on his writing assignment again and he couldn’t get started because he didn’t know how to write a topic sentence. He started to get upset and angry at himself, so he asked Ms. Chang for a break outside.

“It’s ok, Christian. Remember when I was in the classroom last week and I showed you the graphic organizer that Johnny uses? You tried it out and you were able to get your thoughts on paper and it helped you start writing. I left you a couple copies in your writing folder. Why don’t you try using it again?” Christian’s face lit up and he nodded.

11:45 AM: The students had just left for lunch. Ms. Chang walked over to her desk and saw Christian’s completed draft sitting at the top of the turn-in bin. She picked it up and smiled. Christian had been struggling with writing all year but this was the second assignment in a row he had completed. Ms. Chang took out her lunch, sat down at her desk and quickly wrote Christian’s mom a positive email.

1:00 PM: Christian’s mom, Monica, returns from her lunch break and sees a new email in her inbox from Ms. Chang. She feels her body tense until she sees the subject line: Another win for Christian! Monica feels the stress and anxiety immediately dissipate. She opens the email and beams with pride.

2:30 PM: Monica enters the conference room at work for an important client meeting. Calm, confident, and undistracted, Monica is fully engaged and offers excellent contributions. Her boss, Gwen, notices and later writes a note in Monica’s review file: “Strong leadership potential. Consider for manager role.”

3:05 PM: On the school bus, Christian sits next to Harmony, a girl from his class who often walks up and down the aisle chatting with other students. The bus driver, Martha, frequently has to stop the bus to direct Harmony to sit back down. Today, Christian is in a great mood and decides to share his snack with Harmony. Harmony stays seated and chats with Christian about a new video game they both play.

4:30 PM: After dropping off all the students and returning the bus to the district transportation lot, Martha clocks out, thrilled that she is able to leave work on time. As she walks to her car, she notices smoke coming from the home across the street. She calls 911 and reports the fire. Firefighters are able to put out the fire and save a man who was napping inside.

As I pack up my things to head home, I hear sirens outside. I wonder what is happening. I warily open the empathy barometer app on my phone. The needle quivers again, this time a fraction to the right. I wonder what quantum ripples this will send across the educational multiverse tomorrow. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, a version of me chose to ignore Ava’s text, setting off an equally intricate but vastly different chain of events.

At home, I sink into my favorite armchair, turn on the TV, and watch the news story about the fire. I recognize Martha, the bus driver, shown on screen as the reporter details how her 911 call saved a man’s life. I think about how lucky it was that Martha was in the right place at the right time.

As I settle into my evening, I think about how the day’s events are like dominoes - sometimes one domino falls and nothing else happens, yet sometimes one can knock over an entire line of dominoes. We never know which domino we’re knocking over. We just have to make our best call each and every time.