Piojos

There is a lice outbreak in my 1st grade class. The minute I heard about it my head started itching and I am feeling kind of paranoid. It's been hard, but I have avoided touching any of the kid's heads, which is generally my method of getting them to pay attention. Apparently the kids don't stay home when they have lice, which is great for everyone else.

A few other differences I have noticed:

A good portion of the kids have backpacks on wheels (I would say 3/4). It makes sense because they have so many books, but also causes chaos afterschool with all the kids running around, knocking things over with their rolling bags.

There is no nurse and nowhere for the kids to lie down. Elsa, one of my 3rd graders, threw up on the floor under her desk today and had to sit through the rest of the class, periodically leaving the classroom to go vomit in the bathroom. About halfway through the class, someone came to clean up the mess, and Elsa has not yet gone home. Ramón laughed at me when I asked him if there was a school nurse.

Alejandro, the gitano kid who acts out all the time because he has no book, was at it again today. This time, he created a mini soccer field on his desk with clay and spent a half hour playing a Real Madrid-Barcelona match, complete with play-by-play commentary. I told Ramón and he said to just leave him because "at least he isn't making a lot of noise".

I wanted to take a picture of some of my students today but they are not allowed unless you have written permission from the parents. I mostly wanted to take a picture of my student with the mullet, but petitioning the secretary seems like a bit too much work. Sad. I also noticed that in newspapers here, the kids' faces are blocked out, unless it is an article about a specific child or family.

Teachers move around from class to class and we usually end up wasting about 5 to 10 minutes every hour waiting for the next instructor. If one class gets out late, it affects every other class.

My schedule Monday through Thursday (more or less)

9-10 Class
10-11 Class
11-11:30 Breakfast/Coffee Break
11:30-12:30 Class
12:30-2:30 Break/Lunch
2:30-3:15 Class
3:15-4:00 Class

When do the kids learn? Beats me.