gotta love teaching

[tanyapage]

so i started my student teaching today and even though i know that there are bound to be sick kids all over the place i was freaking out after only being there an hour.....this one little girl that was sitting beside me told me that last night her cousin was at her house and v*d.....she also said that she felt really tired and not hungry for her snack....i dont think the teacher would like it if i lysoled everything but what can i do

[purpleteacher]

I am a substitute! Right now... I just wish I could sleep until flu season is overwith!!! Teaching is great exposure therapy and teaches us how to keep our cool under our most "fearful" experiences. I hate it when kids V* in the classroom and kids can only be sent home for V* when someone has seen it or for a fever - otherwise, they are stuck in the classroom... oh joy...

[wing]

I want to be a teacher when I grow up so much!! I hope I can. I did "teacher for a day" for a kindergarten class and I loved it but of course it was only for a day lol. They've got short attention spans but were so cute. =] Anyway, sorry that she was telling you that, but I guess being a teacher comes with its negatives. Sorry, I can't give much advice, but you'll be fine! Like Purpleteacher said, it could be exposure therapy. ^^ Edited by: wing

[purpleteacher]

Teaching is so hard being an emet sometimes... omg... it can be so hard - but if you really love education and teaching, your love will win out and you can be successful.


There is something so incredible when you work with kids and teach kids because they force you to be "honest" and "real" - you can't be fake.


They make you learn to face yourself.

[happyteacher]

tanyapage,


You'd be amazed how fast you become accustomed to hearing stuff like that. I do't even miss a beat anymore (I've been teaching for 4 years). I feel that my emet is really toned down at school. I even consider school a "safe" place. I teach Grade 7. Teaching the little ones is much more difficult. Hang in there, this experiencewill make you stronger. I taught Grade 1/2 summer school last summer. It was hard, but I did it and I am proud of myself. You'd be amazed what you can do when you have to from a professional standpoint. You WILL rise to the challenge when you have to.


As for catching something, you develop an immunity to the viruses that go around after a while. I haven't even caught as much as a cold in 2 years!





happyteacher

[purpleteacher]

I cannot wait to build up immunity, but subbing makes that hard because I am around so many different kids. I wonder if any of my last jobs or the fact that I lived on campus for so many years might be helping my immune system now?

[helenhd]

just curious...what grades does everyone teach? i want to be a teacher at either the middle school (7th or 8th grade) or highschool. i'm doing an internship this spring at a middle school. and then next year i'm off to college to study english and education!

[harmonygirl72]

I want to join the emet teacher club! I teach music to preschool-8th grade! I love it, but it is scary sometimes, like today when a kid told me he threw up twice yesterday! You better believe I used hand sanitizer when he left!


Feel free to contact me with anything teacher related. I have been doing it for 12 years and I can't imagine doing anything else!


Mary

[tanyapage]

hey,


thanks everyone for your comments....im in a grade one class and something is wrong or hurts all the time....nobody seems to be sick yet....best of luck to all of you





tanyapage

[purpleteacher]

hey,


thanks everyone for your comments....im in a grade one class and something is wrong or hurts all the time....nobody seems to be sick yet....best of luck to all of you





tanyapage

LOL!!! I taught First Grade yesterday and that is exactly true! They are always complaining about something wrong -- booboos, sore throat, headache (I didn't even know what one was at that age), stomach ache (usually out of hunger or because they ate too much/ too fast). I have learned that with the little ones that "water" is the miracle cure and a trash can beside a desk puts everyone at ease. A trip to the nurse and a little nap can also be amazing wonder drugs too.

[crimgoddess]

Do most schools have a school nurse?


Maybe where I lived was an abnormality, but I have gone to 6 schools from kindergarten to highschool, and not one of them has had a school nurse. If someone felt sick or was ill in class, they would be sent to a room attached to the office and a secretary would monitor them until they either felt well enough to go back to class or their parents came to pick them up. That, or if their parents were on their way they would sit in front of the office with a garbage can.


I think the worst was this one school (that I only stayed in for a year), they would make the poor kid sit in the hall with a garbage and wait for their parents there. It's almost like they were being punished!


A few years ago I did a placement in an elementary school music room. Everyday we would get grade 6's for recorder (for which I would wear earplugs), and grade 7 and 8's for instrumental music. (we went in the younger classes, but only to explain some of the fundamentals of music- no hands on). This was at the height of flu season (Jan - April), and I didn't witness anyone being sick, or catch anything unmanageablewhile I was there. I'm really surprised at this, because part of my responsibility was to clean and maintain the instruments. Although the mouthpieces were completely disinfected before a new student used them- instruments like saxophones and trumpets can harbour saliva. When cleaning them, sometimes I would get the unpleasant warm ickiness flowing out of them onto my hands. So, even in a small classroom crammed with students blowing (and spitting) into instruments (some of which had spit valves, which means that if they did not place a paper towel down it would end up on the carpet) and then cleaning those saliva-infested instruments- the worst I got was the sniffles!


LOL....even knowing how gross it could be, I also played those instruments when I had some downtime.


*amber*

[harmonygirl72]

We have no school nurse and the kids just sit in the office by the secretary with a trash can. When I am going in the office, I always peek around the door first to make sure the trash can is not out of place!!


Mary

[happyteacher]

School nurse? Yeah, right!


I'm at a Grade 7/8 school (a senior public school) and we don't have enough teachers, yet alone a nurse. Either the secretary is the nurse or I am!


I have NEVER had an incident in my classroom, and have only witnessed 1 outside the office. I have seen a lot of kids come down to the office after though (gross messes on the stairs or on the washroom floor)!


The real truth is that you have a slim chance of seeing anyone sick in your classroom. Field trips on busses.... that's a different story! I have had too many experiences to count!


It does get easier as the days go by. You will find yourself worrying less and less!


happyteacher

[purpleteacher]

I'm in the US and the district I work in actually has a school nurse at every school. When I was going to high school, we didn't have a nurse everyday - so we were just sent home.


I have witnessed V* in the classroom trashcan while subbing and I have seen it outside, out in the hall way, etc... I had one girl run outside the door of my classroom and V* over the rail of the ramp up to our room because she was sick and I told her to go outside (rather than use my trashcan) -- then I told her to go straight to the nurse! I have also heard V* outside of my classroom into trashcans, as I have been known to place the trashcan there when I had a series of kids V* all afternoon and the nurse told me to keep them in my classroom.

[bandnerd]

I'm a middle school and high school band director, so I can relate to all this, especially Crimgoddess who had to work in a music room. I actually have a sink in my classroom, which provides me with opportunity to scrub my hands several times a day. We use LOTS of mouthpiece sanitizer. Yes, brass instruments collect "moisture" which is mostly condensation, but also spit. Right before Christmas I was adjusting a kids tuning slide and the "moisture" sprayed all over my face! I thought I was going to die! After class, I put hand sanitizer everywhere! I use a lot of clorox wipes, the hand sanitizer and mouthpiece spray. I feared illness for 2 weeks straight. Yesterday I had a kid run out of the room and then came back and announced he V* in the bathroom, with a big smile on his face. My blood ran cold, and I thought, how can a 12 year old handle that with a smile when I am living a nightmare! Oh well, I have found that teaching has made me a LOT tougher, and my classroom really is my "safe" place, considering how much I clean.

[happyteacher]

purpleteacher - I don't know what schools you work at, but the kids seem extraordinarily ill! That isn't normal.


tanyapage - What you have to do is not focus on what may happen, because the chances ARE slim you will see or catch anything. You should be focussing on the good days and the things you have done that made you feel empowered, no matter how small.


Rehearsing and rememberingevery detail of vomit related incidents only serves to make things worse for us. By doing this we continue to build vomit up to be something it isn't. We have to try to let things go if we are going to get better! We can't continue to prepare for what MAY happen (but usually doesn't). Preparing wouldn't stop it from happening if it was to happen, it only serves to make us anxious for nothing! What can I say we are control freaks!


happyteacher