At the beginning of this week almost all of the teachers had phones installed in their rooms. The phones can call other classrooms and the office and announcements can be broadcast from the office. You can only be connected to an outside line by going through the office. Of course I was one of the few teachers who did not receive a phone. The vice principle told me my phone was in the principal’s office and I could just go get it. I asked the principal if he had my phone and he replied, “I’m working on it.” Who knows what that meant.
On Wednesday morning I was teaching as usual when the bell rang about 13 minutes early. This was not that unusual. I poked my head out the door and all the kids were headed towards the gym. It was time for their break so I thought maybe the vice principal had called a school meeting or something. I asked one of my students what was going on and she said, “Something blew up near the cafeteria. I think they’re sending everyone home.” Immediately I thought bomb threat? In the U.S. that wouldn’t be so surprising but here there aren’t problems with weapons. Kids fight each other a lot but no one ever pulls a gun or a knife. So I followed the stream of students to the gym.
As I was asking other teachers what was happening they replied, “You didn’t hear the announcement?” Of course, the day after everyone gets phones except for me, there’s a critical announcement that the school is blowing up! Apparently there was a problem in the cafeteria. Waste was coming up through the drains and out of the faucets. It was a mess, and they weren’t going to be able to serve the kids lunch so they were sending them home. The principal announced that everyone was going to be dismissed for the day and the buses were coming to take students home. There was a slight hesitation and then the students erupted in a cheer: “Yaaaayy!” Then the principal announced that all the parents had been informed and the students were supposed to go straight home. This time no hesitation: “Booooo!”
They fixed the cafeteria by the next day (although I am never eating food from there), and I ended up getting a phone on Friday. No important announcements yet, but I’ll be ready! Also on Friday maintenance workers came back to replace my fan that they had fixed. And they even happened to come during my prep period so they didn’t interrupt my teaching! So Friday was a pretty good day.
In chemistry we made models of ionic compounds using raisins, mini marshmallows, and toothpicks. They all love projects involving food. I passed out generous handfuls of both raisins and marshmallows. Of course some students could not resist eating them as soon as I turned my back. Five minutes into the project I had students raising their hands, “Miss, I need more marshmallows.” When I looked at their models they contained maybe 5 of the 20 mini marshmallows I had given them. When I asked what happened to the rest they would put on an innocent face, point at their models and say, “I used them all.” I took some pictures of the models, and then students got to eat them, as well as the extra materials. One boy polished off the rest of the raisins like he hadn’t eaten all day, but the rest went for the marshmallows.
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