Thursday, September 17, 2009

Ack-Ack-Ack!

My classroom sounds like a tuberculosis ward.

Ack-Ack-Ack!

Kids are coughing and hacking all over the place. Their eyes are glassy and bleary. They have headaches. They come in, lay their heads down, and just want to stay there all period. I've filled out so many "go to the nurse" forms that I've had to go make extra copies as I ran out.

On Monday we had 20 kids (out of 96) absent.

Tuesday we had 16.

Wednesday was 18.

Today we're back up to 20.

Some of them are starting to come back after about five days out. For some it's the flu. For others it's strep. For others, who knows? Of course they all think they've got swine flu (thank you dear media for that one) and are nearly beside themselves because it means They Are All Going to Die.

Of course, letting them know that yes, the regular flu can kill you too, isn't really a great idea. They'd probably all just crawl under their desks and prepare to die.

What's weird? Very few of the teachers have been out. Go figure. We'll probably be the last to get sick and all be sick the same week.

And to think...it's only September.

4 comments:

HappyChyck said...

Wow! That's a lot for only September! Keep healthy, Mrs. B! Save your sick days for mental health breaks!

R2P2 said...

We're experiencing the same. The media flu hype doesn't help: I'm sure that with the slightest ailment, parents are keeping kids at home. We've actually had quite a few teachers out, but really I'm astounded by how many students I've had absent in the first four weeks of school. Pretty ridiculous.

The Bus Driver said...

just make that sick week the week before christmas break... hehehe

Miss Sub said...

As a substitute teacher who's sitting at home twiddling her thumbs...I can't wait for the teachers to get sick! Well, the ones that work in my district. Not you, of course. ; )