All this week we were without air conditioning at school. We even were without lights a lot of the time as well. The large generator which supplies the school with consistent electricity was broken down. The NAPA power company does not supply electricity all the time. Probably not even half the time. The kids were complaining and could not stay focused. There were a lot of big behavior problems across the school community. There were teachers who were trying to get away with turning their AC on but when they did it overloaded the small generator and it would start to smoke.
I found out after school on Monday not all the teachers were told to turn off their AC so Tuesday morning when the maintenance guy came into my classroom to turn mine off I stopped him at the door. I told him I knew he had not informed everyone and it was not fair. Everyone has to have it off or we were keeping ours on. I don't usually get angry but when you are forced to teach in a 85+ degree classroom with lights on and off all day you get a little testy. He said he had told everyone and so I named names and watched him knock on their doors.
On Friday, the playground was filled with smoke from the little generator. We could see two classroom AC fans going and one of them had their windows open too. I let my aide watch the kids and I went looking for Mr. Maintenance. I brought him out to the playground and showed him. He said he was going inside to tell them but we watched and only one of them went off. I was over hot and flaming mad. It is impossible to teach when your students are either falling asleep, looking dazed, or hyperactive because they are trying to stay awake. My aide got a heat rash and she is from here. I felt sick to my stomach and was losing so much water and salt from sweating I could not replenish it fast enough.
I really hope the problem is fixed for tomorrow. If they cannot fix it then they need to shorten the school day or allow longer playground time. Something has to give. I felt so bad on Friday. After school, when all the kids were gone, I went to see the nurse. She let me lay down for awhile and talked to me about how much water I was drinking. I think I just pushed myself beyond my limit. Going from the North Pole to the Equator was a big change. I was doing fine with the AC but five days without it just got to me.
I am sure how I felt led to a stupid thing I did Friday afternoon. School was out and parents, nannies, and drivers were picking up the students. I had two mom's in my classroom who wanted my time. The driver of my most challenging student arrived to pick him up. He never comes into the classroom. He always stays at the door. Both my aide and I were trying to verbally coax the student to go but he was holding onto his seat and refused to leave. I wasn't going to yank on his arm and he had a death grip on his chair so I couldn't even pick him up. I just picked up his chair with him on it and carried him to his driver and set him down. I said in a polite voice, "I am sorry you had a difficult day but I hope you have a great weekend." I then closed the door to the classroom. Less than a minute later he walks in with his chair and apologizes to me and I gave him a goodbye hug.
Well that split second decision wasn't a great idea. I should have just told the driver to call his mom on her cell and had her talk to him or simply told his driver I could not convince him to come out and went back to talking to the other people in my classroom. Anyway, I either pulled or tore a tendon in my shoulder. I have been suffering all weekend. I tried a patch which smells like Bengay and ended up with a rash on my shoulder now too. I am not in a happy place right now. Miserable doesn't begin to describe it.
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