WOW! What a week! Woke up with a humongous slight sore throat on Tuesday. (I DO work in a GERM INFESTED work place!) Thought I might have raised my voice done too much DIRECTED teaching this week. NOOOOOO….
Woke up Thursday with…..NO VOICE! Great, first grade, the week before Halloween ( I am WAYYY too behind in my Pumpkin Projects) and I have no voice. So what’s a teacher to do? ( NO WAY AM I STAYING HOME….SUB plans take too long to make!) I go to school. I don’t feel bad ( slight major sore throat, but coffee cures everything, right?) so off I go. I am SURE my kids have ALL of our daily routines down, by now ( day 46 of school), so I should be able to use hand signals & chimes , bells, etc to control them….???? Maybe???? Cough.Cough. My principal says I must go home..I am a hazard to students, should someone get hurt I cannot get them help. So we call for a sub. WHAT? NO SUBS in our whole district? 12 classes in district with NO SUBS!!!??? So I stay…until lunch when our 1/2 time VP gets to our site, so SHE can teach my students until they go home. (OMG! Lesson plans for my VP!!!??? HURRY! Check TE, run off ALL extras, surely she will do EVERYTHING in the program ..even the parts I skip professionally choose NOT to.) We did OK for the morning. They only asked me 100 times “What do I do?” My hand signal reply “Write your name at the TOP!” Partner work. MORE partner work. Read, read, write, write, STATIONS! YES! Thank goodness for ….MUSIC! OK, I surrender. Being quiet is MUCH harder than talking explaining. I go home. Doc appointment at 4:00. I have 3 hours at home with no one there. Should I nap? Go over my lesson plan book that OF COURSE I brought home, Not ready for HALLOWEEN WEEK! Should I ….clean the house..do something constructive? NO!!! PINTEREST to the rescue! I knew I’d feel better…Doc says I have laryngitis. Drink fluids, don’t talk. OK, Doc. My mouth is closed but my fingers are flying on the keyboard! Never a dull moment! Feeling better, though I DO have to get something accomplished today…laundry? Mow lawn? Get groceries? Nah…I think I need to cut out pumpkin books for next week’s writing center. No Prob!
(Update…I hear my new student , #30, had a slight problem, during class…good to know my VP will appreciate the “real world” of the first grade classroom!) I think I will be welcomed back on Monday.
To those of us who put our students before EVERTHING else…
A FREEBIE for YOU!
