Peonzas, rolling bookbags, and nose picking

People sometimes remember months or years with a phrase. I've decided that for me, this is The Year of the Peonzas, Rolling Bookbags, and Nose Picking. You might think this logical considering I teach at an elementary school- peonzas are spinning tops you launch with a string and are all the rage with the kids. Rolling bookbags are just that- rolling bookbags. Although they are actually normal bookbags that have been attached to wheels and a flimsy handle and they clunk horribly, often turn over, and strain parents backs because the children only pull them at school when their parents aren't there to roll the bookbags for their children. And then there's nose picking. Logically this would belong to the kids as well, but the majority of the nose picking (and where I first noticed it's apparent public acceptability) is done by my 23 year old roommate. He'll be in the middle of a sentence talking to me, or we'll be eating dinner, or anything really and all of a sudden- boom, got one! After noticing my roommate's constant habit I began to notice others doing it as well. I'm still not used to seeing it and I highly doubt it'll be one of those cultural differences I pick up and bring back to the States.

School has been interesting this week. Wednesday morning after the Tuesday elections in the states the first thing the other teachers brought up was the polls. 9am and the subject of choice in a public school is politics- Dorothy we're definitely not in Kansas anymore! In the paper not only were the political cartoons also about the US elections, but there was also a multi-page article about what had occurred and what it meant for the US. At least the nose pickers are interested in other peoples' noses as well! Apart from the political talk, inside the classroom I had to give one class a pop-quiz because they wouldn't stop talking. I was kinda sad because they're actually one of my favorite classes (sixth graders) but they seriously would not shut up, even after I gave them several warnings and told them if they weren't quiet they were going to have a pop-quiz. Maybe next time they'll listen. I also got to experience one of the weirdest teachers in the school, and one of the strangest I've ever seen. She changes the pitch of her voice when she speaks which is really annoying, and she has no patience. But the strangest thing is that she wanted me to speak the spelling part of the English test to the kids. Okay, no biggie, just read the words- wrong! For the spelling section of her spelling test she had me spell each word 3 times, saying only the letters and not the word. That's the easiest spelling test I've ever heard of!?! The other teachers have normal spelling tests where they say the word and the kids have to write it and try to spell it correctly. For some reason she thinks a spelling test is me spelling the words 3 times to the kids & them writing the letters I say. I know the letters are in English not Spanish, but these kids are in 4th grade and learned the English alphabet in preschool! There also continued to be an influx of salesmen coming to the school to sell things as well as people outside the school gates handing out pamphlets, flyers, etc advertising or selling different things- something I'm pretty sure is illegal in the States. But alas it's Thursday, the end of my work week. Now I get a 3day weekend with no peonzas, no rolling bookbags, but that still leaves the nose pickers...