Bonne Anniversaire!

This week and last week I have been teaching my students days of the week, months, and numbers (including 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.). Depending on their level (and their ability to actually listen), some of this is a review of what they already know. After they've mastered, and I mean mastered (French accents not allowed, mwahahaha) the calendar terminology I ask them to tell me when their birthday is and how old they are, incorporating the cooresponding questions.
-"When is your birthday?"
-"My birthday is ___"
-"How old are you?"
-"I am __ years old."

The kids are so adorable and if they're out on the playground when I arrive, they all scream HELLO! to me. But there are, of course, other things to deal with.
For instance. Yesterday a girl in my 2nd grade class told me her stomach hurt and I asked her if she would be alright to just put her head down. She easily agreed and said yes. 5 minutes later she was puking all over the floor. Unlucky for me, this is one of my classes where the teacher is in a different room down the hall with the second half of her students. As quickly as I could, I grabbed the trash bin and sent another kid to go get the teacher. Moments later, the maitress (teacher) arrived with paper towels and told the girl to start cleaning up her own throwup! Then she began yelling at her, "No more of this! Not allowed! I won't have it! You're too old to do this in the classroom, you should no better! Never again!" I was flabergasted...that poor ill little girl! I assured the maitresse that the girl warned me her stomach hurt but I just had her put her head down. The maitresse huffed and simply responded, "oh, *sigh*." Then she continued to yell at no-one (all the students had returned to the main classroom), "This is over, FINISHED! No longer the maitresse who does the cleaning! It's over! I'm sick of it! Why am I cleaning this?!" I just walked out of the room. LOL.
Although I thought she had no right to scream at a poor little 8 year old girl for being sick, she did have reason for being pissed about having to clean up. I mean, I wasn't going to touch that mess! What's more, it just didn't make sense. The maintenance man did show up, but then I noticed he ended up leading all the kids back to the classroom and left the maitresse there on the floor with the paper towels, all the while having a grand fit about having to clean. I had another class to teach right away, so I briskly scooched out of that situation...wouldn't you?!
Things are different here. Obviously, it's a different country. Children get reprimanded for everything, and they learn in a very strict environment. Having never taught or observed in American elementary schools as an adult, I am anxious to see a classroom again back home...

... but getting back to birthdays ... I am attaching below a link of Andrea Gibson's poem, "Birthday." Andrea Gibson is a well-renowned slam poet (and simply a poet, at that). She's basically my idol. I've been watching updated videos of her the past few days and I am utterly electrifyed by her talent. She exerts a true passion in her performances, creating for the listener images that nearly come to life. Her imagination is laced with real issues (political, emotional, and global, for example) that are deep, thoughtful, and often times delicately harsh (yes that's an oxymoron, that's the point - I cannot describe it myself, you've got to check her out). Click here to see her website.... and to see one of my favorites (and appropriate for this post, considering the title) : "Birthday"
Andrea's style has inspired a number of my own works. Perhaps I'll give you a little taste soon enough....