And then....

While traveling in South Africa two years ago, I visited a plethora of schools including one very rural primary school that kept their windows and doors unblocked.
I was observing a "2nd" grade class being taught in one of the nine national languages that I did not understand. All of the sudden all the learners were in uproar and guarding their lunch boxes. Sure enough, there just inside the door was a wild monkey probably eager for lunch. The students seemed accustomed to this where as I just looked blankly at the teacher for guidance. The monkey realized defeat and hurried off down the way.

Maybe it is a curse, but here I am in Australia, as a part of the classroom now teaching Pre-primary ( the age-level equivalent to Kindergarten back home ) guiding the learners for outdoor play when I spot a scorpion just outside the classroom door. Now the scorpion was so clear, that I thought perhaps scorpions shed their skin just like snakes and this is the left over skin. Without much time to consider the thought, a learner skips right over it, landing just on the scorpion's stinger and continues on (the student had shoes on and was oblivious to the visiting animal). Meanwhile I now have complete confidence that this not just an outer skin



















but a full-fledged, feisty scorpion more than happy to strike for its segmented tail is now raised in a defensive position. After warning the students about the scorpion and to stay far away from it, I peak my head inside to tell my mentor teacher that there is a scorpion outside, and then asked for further directions. One teacher suggests I just step on it so I turn back around and realize that the scorpion is more than half the size of my shoe and I couldn't bring myself to step on it. Saved my the another teacher, she places a cup over top, trapping the creature in, slides a sheet of stable paper under, and then carries it across the road into the forest to keep far away from the children.

After some discussion, turns out scorpions are rare in the Perth area
and I will hopefully never see another.

Cheers to another meaning of classroom pets,
Becca

P.s. images thanks to weheartit.com and phoenix.about.com/.../Scorpion-04.html