King of Nose Bleeds

The day went by surprisingly fast.  Things went smoothly, the kids were good, yet some weird and funny things still happened.  Most kids started their summer vacation today, so everyone was dressed more casually than normal, with lots of tank tops and sundresses and shorts.  The kids were happy at having more time to play, yet still studied well in my class.

In the first class of still beginner level 2nd graders, Maria responded to almost every question with a giggle and, "I am scared."  How's the weather?  Giggle, giggle, I am scared.  What day is it?  I am scared.  Giggle.  How are you?  I am scared.  Giggle, giggle, giggle.  Is that an OLT test question, or what?? 

Halfway through class Penny got upset with Kate and Maria because Kate pretended to be the teacher and wrote 100000% on Maria's perfect paper but didn't write anything on Penny's paper.  It took me awhile to figure out why she was upset.  She was crying, rubbing her eyes and nose, coughing, crying some more.  As she was calming down, her nose started bleeding.  A lot.  There wasn't any tissue, so purely from the not-getting-blood-all-over-her angle, I tilted her head back just slightly to contain the thick dark red blood.  Kate ran to get tissue, which Penny took and vigorously rubbed her nose with.  NO!  Don't rub it!  Hold pressure on it!  Can you imagine?  I wasn't sure exactly what to do (as there is no standard way to handle nose bleeds here), the kids were telling her one thing, I was trying to help but without getting near the blood myself (my parents' paranoia at hepatitis, etc. showing there).  

Then suddenly there was blood in her mouth.  A couple of the kids were freaked out by that.  It was certainly gross, but understandable because of my stupidly having her tilt her head back.  I took her to the bathroom with two other girls tagging along and had her spit the blood out in the sink.  Mina saw the train and followed us in, and was shocked at all the blood.  Who knew a tiny little girl could bleed that much!  Mina took over from there--thank goodness--and I returned to class with the other girls. 

Kate very worriedly asked why there was blood in Penny's mouth, so I tried to draw a picture showing how the nose and mouth are connected.  I think she understood.  Penny came back into class a few minutes later with tissue stuck up her nose.  She proceeded to pull the tissue out of her nose every 10 seconds or so to check on how much blood was there.  Don't touch it!  Just leave it there!!!!  She had to leave class one other time to spit blood out of her mouth.  When class ended her mother was waiting.  I don't know whether they were going to the doctor or what.  Seeing them together was nice--the mother gave her a hug, and thanked Mina and me for our help.

In the next class we did the listening book and they did an excellent job.  It helped that Ally and Jenny were absent!  At 4 PM they were incredibly silly, and constantly giggling like little girls.  But they stayed at a reasonable level and finished the lesson.

The 5 PM class was dense, like usual.  Lewis refused to do any work, while Rooky continues his talking off the subject.  OK, kids, let's open our books to page 30.  "Teacher!  How was your weekend?"  Fine, but it's not time to chat, it's time to study!!

The next class was good; the last class was fantastic.  Brandon is taking off this month because of financial problems in his family.  Just this month, so Kara says.  How is one month off supposed to do anything to help?!  It will just put him behind the other kids when he comes back!

Enough procrastination, I should get ready for my special class now.  It's tomorrow at 1 PM and I only have a vague idea of what I'm going to teach.