Challenges and Opportunities

So many things have happened this school year, I'm not even sure where to begin. One of the biggest challenges was overcoming WHOOPING COUGH. Now who in the world still gets whooping cough? Apparently a LOT of people in Cobb County. Apparently CDC decided a few years ago that we no longer needed the booster in our tetnus shots anymore so they took them out. So when I had my shot 3 years ago I didn't get the booster. Now when you work with 9 year olds you pick up every little cootie bug they bring in the classroom. So from mid-September to the end of October my doctor kept treating me for bronchitis (which is the common mis-diagnosis in adults). So after 2 antibiotics and a steroid they decided to test for whooping cough and try one of the TWO antibiotics that whooping cough responds to. I got the news at school and was told that I had to stay home for 10 days. When I started crying on the phone with the nurse, she got the doctor to change it to 7 days. I was SO bored, but I was so glad to start feeling better. Do you know that the cough stuck around until nearly Christmas? Check with your doctor to make sure you have this booster. You do NOT want to get this. Think about bronchitis and multiply it by 10 and you will have an idea what this was like.

During this time I started working with a child at home who had a brain tumor removed this past summer with the plan of having her join my class in December. What a little spark of joy she is. My whooping cough is nothing compared to what she and her family have been going through. Having her in my class has made my children more aware of and caring toward others. I had a new student start on a day I was out. The sub didn't greet the parents or the child. The students got up and greeted her, found her a desk and chair, gave her a name tag and took care of her all day. Mom told me about it the next day and about how impressed she was with the students. I was too!

Also in this time period that I was dealing with whooping cough I was selected as the 11 Alive Class Act Teacher Award. Luckily this happened on a week when I was finishing up a round of antibiotics so the cough was hiding under the medication. They came in and filmed for 2 hours. The children where so excited to perform a puppet show for the news. They have great shots of my students doing their thing, but out of all the things I said, the only segment I spoke through has me stating some cliche about teaching keeping me young. I cringe every time the clip is shown, which it was in November.

In November I was selected as the MCS Employee of the Month. Hooray. I got a great award and CASH. But of course, I had to watch the clip again. Yuck. Haha.

And my newest challenge now is going to be cyber teaching. Hopefully this week I will begin recording lessons for C to watch at home in the afternoons or evenings. This ought to be fun. Cross your fingers.

All for now.