Lately we've been caught in the sticky web of a horrible heat wave. For several days running, the heat index has hovered in the upper 90s to 100s. UGH! And of course school is still in session. On Monday and Tuesday, the classes on the second floor of the school (where the temperature was above 100 degrees) were moved to the ground floor where it was only 98 degrees. I don't even want to venture to say what the temperature was in the kitchen and the nice ladies who work there didn't to talk about it much. Let's just say they weren't smiling.
The library is one of only two rooms in the school that is air conditioned (the office is the other). Our principal decided I needed to share my little oasis with the rest of the students. So, for several days running the library became "Camp Library". At one point, a fifth grade class, a kindergarten, a special ed., an ESL class and some speech students camped out around the library trying to focus on the task of learning. By afternoon, nearly everybody had given up and sat slumped in their seats watching James and the Giant Peach. That sad old air conditioner had about had it, too (it seemed to be wheezing) as had the rest of us. I didn't mind sharing the library, once I decided I just couldn't teach my usual classes there. It's sure been a weird week.
If administrators want us to teach till the end of June, they should give some serious thought to installing air conditioners in the classes. Who can learn or even think when their brain feels as though it's 'bout ready to melt?
