Have you ever heard the oldies song "Heatwave" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas? Well let me assure you that the heatwave in my classroom today had nothing to do with the way my husband makes me feel.
Today was another 90-plus day with no air conditioning. I think we topped out at 96 degrees today. It's a shame when the temperature outside on the near treeless playground is 10 degrees cooler than the inside of your classroom. It's also a shame when the adhesive on the masking tape you've used to hang up things melts and sends your posters and such to the floor. Don't even ask how many times THAT'S happened.
I really hate it when someone comes in the room to speak to me (or comes in trying to investigate the source of the nuclear-heated air wafting into the hallway) and says, "Wow, it's really warm in here!" What? What? "Warm"?!? Perhaps they don't see the puddles and trails of sweat crisscrossing the tile. Or the items hanging haphazardly on the wall because the adhesive melted. Or the troop of Campfire Girls trying to make s'mores on my smoldering forehead. "Warm"? REALLY!
I do try to keep the kids cool and hydrated with lots of water breaks. Although, even with all the water, the bathroom hasn't been an issue. I think it's because the kids are sweating out all of the extra fluid, just like I am. I swear, even with my minimum of three water bottles a day, I don't feel the need to use the facilities. And I don't think I'm the only one. I oveheard a third-grade teacher talking about that very same thing today.
My building's classrooms are equipped with ceiling fans to help keep us "cool," and most of us use box fans or standing oscillating fans to add to the (quasi) cooling effect. However, those things just blow the hot air around. Still, I guess it's a breeze.
The only rooms in the building with air are the main office, the nurse's office, the computer lab, the workroom, the library, and the faculty lunchroom, which didn't have its portable air on today. (What an uproar THAT caused!) It's to the point where you find any excuse during the free time you do have to visit (and possibly linger in...) one of these rooms since the remaining 45 or so classrooms and itinerant rooms don't have it.
At the end of the day there is a mad rush to the parking lot at 4:05 so people can get into their cars and turn the air on full blast. I only live 10 minutes from where I teach and my hair's blowing in the A/C the entire way home. Then I go right to the shower and get the sticky, sweaty, griminess off of me as soon as possible. Today I preempted my husband's post-workout shower because I just couldn't take it anymore.
I think all school buildings should have air conditioning. With all of the emphasis on test scores and raising the general achievement level of students, how can people expect kids to learn in a room that is 10 degrees hotter than the outside temperature? It's lunacy.
In my previous school district (see my sister blog http://www.dontcryoverspilledglue.blogspot.com/ for where that district was located), we had an early dismissal policy for warm days. If the temperature was more than 90 or so degrees before 11 a.m., school was dismissed for the safety of the students because the buildings there didn't have air conditioning either. Some classrooms didn't even have windows.
My current district has no such policies that I'm aware of, and I've been dealing with the heat here now for four years. I'm concerned about the kids getting heatstroke, headaches, or heaven forbid, passing out. (Which happened in my former district.) I myself fell victim to the heat this past spring, when, on another 95-plus day, I experienced headache, nausea, dizziness, and a raised core temperature like a fever. (My usually low 96-degree self was 99 degrees.) All of this before noon. Needless to say, I was sent home early, and I'm the type who doesn't miss a day unless there is a drastic reason for me not to be there. Amazingly, once I was home and resting comfortably in the A/C, I felt fine. Coincidence? I think not.
Tomorrow is another day. With another 90-plus degree forecast before Hurricane Earl is scheduled to hit the East coast and shift the weather patterns a bit.
My water, all three bottles of it, is already in the freezer.
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