"I cannot go to school today ..."

As a parent with a kiddo in school, I get the temptation to send kids to school despite their illnesses. It's difficult to take off from work, especially to stay home with a kid who seems well. Last week my munchkin had pink eye in both eyes, but not on the same day, which resulted in her staying home two days while it cleared up. Totally fun, right? No ... especially when, for all intents and purposes, she was perfectly fine, playing with her brother outside and everything. But let's consider some things, shall we?

First, there is a reason doctors have reccommended that schools not allow students back until the fever has been gone for 24 hours - those kids are still contagious! And now you have sent him to school. Yes, your kid has been fever-free since six this morning, but he is still wallowing in a cess pool of whatever virus caused the fever in the first place, and now he will spread that cess poolness all over the campus resulting in multiple kids getting it. Their parents will probably make the same choice you did, and now it's a campus-wide problem of colds, coughs, and fevers. You have successfully turned your kid into the monkey from Outbreak. Fantastic.

Second, there are children at school with your child who are affected more by illness than most kids. I can speak first-hand about type 1 diabtes, which is an autoimmune disease. Since my kid's immune system is already out of whack, when she gets sick, it goes completely whack-o. She has been hospitalized by strep throat - strep throat, people - because it made her diabetes freak out. I can say that personally, I would be beyond angry if I found out the parent of the kid who got my child sick knowingly sent their child to school sick so they wouldn't have to miss work. Thanks ... now I owe the hospital several thousand dollars, all so you wouldn't have to use a sick day. And diabetes isn't the only disease that causes problems when a child gets ill, so think about those ramifications before you stuff contraband cough drops and Tylenol and travel-sized Kleenex into your kid's bag and drop him off at the front door of the building (without a kiss good-by, of course ... wouldn't want to get sick yourself).

Finally, your kid has been sick. I know kids bounce back quickly, but shouldn't your kid get time to rest and heal before sending him back out into the world? He spends the day tired, run down, and generally in a half-coma anyway, so what have you accomplished? Nothing ... your kid learned nothing today. He could have been at home sleeping off his illness and learning nothing, but hey, he'll get a perfect attendance award at the end-of-year ceremony. Score!

I know we're not all like this. I know most of us keep our kids home when they are sick, but I think we'd have to keep them home less if other parents kept their kids home more. I just kills me when a kid walks in my classroom, obviously ill, and lets me know his mom realized he was sick, but said he had to go to school anyway. No amount of hand sanitizer can make me feel like I'm not covered in snot germs for the rest of the day. And what if I don't get sick, but I take it home and give it to my diabeteic? No one wins, here ... except that kid's parents who are at work instead of nursing a sick kiddo back to good health and my pediatrician and/or local ER who will profit off of me having to take my kid in because of the aforementioned complications with diabetes.

So do you know what the teachers in your kids' lives really want for Christmas? Hand sanitizer ... lots and lots of hand sanitizer ... industiral-sized bottles of the stuff. And Kleenex. The good kind. Not the kind that scratch and are so thin you might as well blow your nose into your hand 'cause your fingers come away damp. The thick, soft kind that carresses your sore nose and keeps your fingers dry. Because as long as kids knowingly come to school sick, they will have to fight the good fight against snot germs.

And I'll pledge here and now to keep my sick kid at home so that I am not one of "those" parents.

You're welcome :)

The Fog

My students are learning that mimicing good writing is a great way to improve their own writing skills. We started small with some poetry. Here are some of my favorite mimcs of The Fog by Carl Sandburg:

Dust drifts like snow
the dark clouds in the
dark and windy sky.

It feels like a
tornado
but dust, endless, timeless,
covers everything with dust.
_______________________________

Fake friends are
like shadows.

Always found on
those bright,
sunny days.
Never found
on the dark
stormy ones.
_________________________________

RAIN
The rain collects
and pierces the sky
then dances along
the floof
like a delicate drum beat
only to fade once more.
_________________________________

This one doesn't mimic The Fog, but this student was clearly a little frustrated with this assignment/some drama in his life, so he did his own thing:

I hate when people act fake.
Can they chill out and have some cake?
God, they give me a headache.
Oh, for goodness sake!




Getting a glance at their creative sides is one of the best part of my jobs.

Calling Him a World "Leader" Might be Pushing It

I have a student who shares a first name, but not a last name, with Mr. Castro. That's right ... that Mr. Castro ... the former dictator of Cuba.

This student asked to go to the nurse, so I wrote him a pass and sent him on his way. When he came back, he handed me the now revised pass. Guess what name I wrote on the pass?

Sadly, with my lack-of-sleep brain, I can almost guarantee this won't be the last time this happens.