In a normal year, I would have gone to school. I would have toughed it out because it’s « not that bad » . And going to school a little sick is way better than having to plan for a TOC. I would have been tired and a little grumpy for a week and would come home exhausted and fall asleep as soon as I walked in the door. I wasn’t a very good teacher those days. But I was at school. Which led to dealing with less angry parents. Not directly because I was sick. However, depending on where I was teaching at the time, maybe the TOC doesn’t know the kids and the EA is out of the class and they don’t know how to deal with a student. Maybe I am on a gradual reintroduction to the workplace after an injury and there hasn’t been a plan in place by the SD so for the 4 half days I don’t teach there are 4 different TOC in the class and there is no continuity. Maybe because there was an incident that no one wanted to deal with and though I’d deal with it when I get back.
In my first couple hours at home Monday, I came back to the guilt of being away from the class many times. I thought about some of these issues and wondered why our system is so broken. What is the solution to these issues? Other than SDs having plans in place for teachers on work reintroduction that include hiring a TOC for ALL of the days in advance, what could be done. In an ideal world, each class would have 2 teachers. Team-teaching would be an amazing way for students to be able to get the support they need, the pushes they need, the individual attention they need. Especially for our younger learners. Then, if one teacher is sick, the other can take over for the day. That teacher knows the kids, knows the programme, and it would be a seamless transition. But the budgets in education are horrendous already, so there is no way that they would be able to double up on salaries.
I can’t solve all the problems in education (although I try!). But I can make sure that I am being the best teacher for my students. And that means staying home when I am sick. Not just during COVID, but always. We often talk about how we are happy to get back to normal after COVID, but this is a part of the ‘normal’ that I think we can do without. Over the past couple years I have learned to take better care of my mental health, and this year I am learning to take better care of my physical health.
So on Monday night, after spending the day relaxing reading and doing some project planning and marking, I planned for a TOC for the next day. Instead of having a cold drag on for weeks, I slept, drank tea and ate soup and took care of me. Although I was pretty sure my test would be negative, and they said they would rush my test as I was a teacher, I had to remind myself that even if it wasn’t COVID, I was still sick and I needed to take care of me. So, at 7 am Tuesday morning when I received a text telling me my COVID test was negative, I rolled over and went back to sleep.
On Wednesday, I went back to work feeling the best I had since December break. I was rested, I was calm, I was prepared. I had a great day of teaching.
I’m adding this to my list of things I will do better going forward. We have sick days for a reason and I intend on taking them when I need them.
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