Wanted: Mr. Clean

Working with kids, I'm constantly surrounded by chaos, germs and filth which has made me a neat freak, clutter free, germaphobe. Especially, now that the weather is warming up my students come in all sweaty and sticky. Yuck. I have an air purifier in my room. Blue means clean and green means dirty. Whenever it turns green, I freak and tell my students to stop breathing... just kidding!

My students are very generous when it comes to sharing their snacks with me. I'm always hesitant taking unwrapped snacks though because I fear what is/has been on their hands. During these circumstances I usually place it on my desk and tell them I'll save it for later.

I see students picking their noses all the time, leaving the bathroom without washing their hands, and coming in with little dribbles of who knows what on their clothes. We have hand sanitizer dispensers all over so I just keep telling myself that's what they use.

Today I had a student bring strawberries in a tupperware container for snack. She was fusing with the top during class so the red, sticky, strawberry juice got all over her desk and book, but instead of getting a paper towel she started slurping and licking the juice off of her desk and book. I don't even want to know what was on her desk besides the strawberry juice.

Anyways, these dirty little habits have made me a little OCD. I find myself constantly washing my hands and using hand sanitizer. My students aren't allowed to leave my class until their chairs are pushed in. At the end of each day I catch myself reorganizing the desks and chairs so that they are perfectly lined up only to be out of order the next day. Oh well, I try and as long as I'm healthy my hand washing habit can stay.