Until this year, I used "loaner" recorders in class for those that forgot. No more. Actually, not because of H1N1, just because I'm tired of cleaning them....well, asking the cafeteria ladies to clean them.

I usually just give a recorder to those who can't afford one. I make the ones who I know good and well CAN afford one, but don't want to buy one, use a school one for the year.

At the end of last school year, the cafeteria ran them through the washer twice, I cleaned out the cases with sanitizer, and next week I am going to soak them in a sterilizing solution and put them through the cafeteria washing one more time. I figure this is really overkill, since any germs that survived the washing in the spring are long dead by now. The school nurse totally approved and told me to send any parents to her that objected.