It's a Jungle Out There!

When I walk into the classroom each day I never know what to expect.  Somedays (usually Mondays mornings) the kids are sitting in their desks half asleep when I enter.  Other times they are running a muck - and the room is in complete shambles.  Then there are days like today, when I just don't know how to react!

As I approached my classroom this morning, I noticed a sort of

funky 'non-human' odor seeping out.  My suspicion served me correct when I opened the door to find a room full of furry creatures!  Dogs, birds, hampsters, turtles, and my personal least favorite - a pregnant rat - all filled the classroom.  So apparently it it 'bring your pet to school day' for the 5th grade classes!  All I kept thinking about as I attempted to teach was the liability of this whole situation.  All these pets in the room, all day - I could just envision a dog eating a paracete, or the rat biting a student! Fortunately for all of us, none of that happened under my watch, and I was actually quite impressed with how well behaved the dogs were.  The birds were a little chatty, but I managed to administer class anyway.  

I later found out that the kids were required to bring their 'mascotas' (pets) for none other than Spanish class.  Spanish class?!  I could understand Science - maybe - but Spanish class?  You lost me there.  Plus, 5A didn't have Spanish class until 11:30am and 5B until the last class of the day at 1:30pm.  It was crazy to have the pets at school all day long!  Well, what was I going to do?  We proceeded with class - even took tests - all with the student's animals.

It just keeps getting better...because as a reward for always speaking

 in English at school (It is a struggle to try keep the kids

 from speaking Spanish) the 5th graders were granted the priveledge to watch movie during class - on none other than today! This meant bringing the kids and their pets into the teacher's room to eat popcorn and watch The Chronicles of Narnia 2!  So we actally did watch the movie and had snacks as planned without too much trouble.  One dog was a little territorial, so we had to separate him from the rest of the bunch, but for the most part the other ones did okay.  I thought for sure they would go but when the snacks came out, but they did surprisingly well.  Speaking of grub, I told th ekids they could bring their own snacks.  They never cease to amaze me with their food selection.  One child brought 5 bags of popcorn (for himself!), another a 3 liter of soda (I did see her share it with one or 2 others) and another downed an entire bag of Munchies (doritos, pretzels, sunchips, cheetos combo) on his own!  I tried to set an example by eating an apple, but eventually caved and went for the popcorn  So it all turned out okay afterall.  The kids had a lot of fun, and the animals added an interesting twist to the eventful day!  I was nervous again at recess and lunch when a few of the dogs were getting a little fiesty, but I never heard of any injuries.  Thank the good Lord!  Now we get a long weekend to relax from all of the craziness!  Again, thank the good Lord!  Have a wonderful weekend...we sure plan to!