Swine Flu..not quite back to normal

Today was the teacher's first day back to school since the swine flu outbreak. The Mexican government has decided to allow students back on May 11th but until then, we have a ton of work to get done before our kiddos return into the building. I just had to write and let you know about the crazy precautions our school is taking once the kids step back inside.

Until the end of the school year, we are having PTA and teachers form "screening squads." Before the students enter the building, each child has to be screened for flu like symptoms. There will be two check points. One by the front office and the other before they enter our classrooms. If any of our kids even have a cough, we have to send them home. Sounds crazy huh? Who knew your first year of teaching included being a doctor, lol.

Also, we are having everything sanitized in our building. Books, pencils, desks, you name it, it is being cleaned. We also are creating a "hand washing schedule" amongst the school. We will sign up for different times during the day where our kids will be required to wash and disinfect their hands.

Because of the swine epidemic, all Mexican schools are going to be required to attend classes longer than the normal school year to make up for lost time. LUCKLY, our school has beat the system. We proposed a plan where we will have to teach on Saturdays but will still be able to finish by June 5th. You might be thinking, Saturdays. that's crazy..but I am so much happier about that than teaching until July!!

On top of all of this, all of the teachers are having to revampt their unit plans due to the missed time. Today, we spent the day trying to figure out what to keep and what to take out. It's kind of a mess but who knew that this was all going to happen.

I won't be back in Colorado extra early like I once thought, but thank goodness we still get to leave on June 5th. I will be in master's courses for two weeks after school ends and then back in Colorado around June 20th.

This is definitely another crazy story to add to my first year of teaching!