Sick days as a teacher...

No one likes being sick. It's no fun having to lay around feeling miserable when there's not much you can do about it. Everyone hates all that comes with being sick....not having an appetite (although, that part isn't so bad when you hit the scales a few pounds lighter), eating bland foods, frequent trips to the restroom, or feeling like your head is about to explode.

However bad being sick is though, I promise, it's intensified when you're a teacher.

There are a lot of things I love about teaching. It's exciting to see a light bulb turn on for a student who has been struggling for a long time, and to make kids smile, laugh and believe in themselves. There are also many things I dislike. Planning and grading nights and weekends, never being finished or "good enough" and attending countless meetings are not high on my list of favorites. Of all the negative parts of the profession, being sick as a teacher is probably one of the worst aspects of the job.

When my husband is sick, if he feels like toughing it out, he heads into work. Sure, it's not fun having to be there, but he can sit at his desk, be a little slower/laid back, and get things done. If he's REALLY sick, he can call in from the comfort of the bed, turn off the alarm, and go back to sleep. This is how it is with many jobs.

When I'm sick, as I am today, I too have to chose between going in and staying home, but my options look a little different.

Option 1. Go to work, and try to get through the day. This comes with 23 children who, even with the best of intentions (when they in fact have good intentions) are a challenge. Picture having a headache, a sinus infection, sore throat, or some other illness, and having to manage and educate 23 little ten year olds. It's not easy, and patience wears thin... quickly.

Option 2. Take a sick day. To those on the "outside" of education, this may seem like the obvious solution. Think again. I do not have the luxury of calling in and saying "I can't come in today". I mean, sure, I can do that, but it must be done by 6am (which is before I normally even get up) and the phone call is immediately followed by lesson planning and scrambling to piece together something that a sub can follow, without me being there to make copies, and have everything neatly together. I have to explain where things are, articulate the tiniest details of the day so that (potentially) someone who has never set foot in my school can successfully manage the class. THEN I get the aftermath of dealing with all the insanity that occurred while I was out. Is this option still looking like the obvious choice?

There have been teachers in my building who have come to school at 7:00, with strep throat, to organize and get things ready for a sub, because it really is SO hard to do plans via email to the principal and when things aren't clear the teacher gets phone calls.

Many times I feel like it's easier to tough it up and go in and run my classroom myself than it is to get everything together for someone else to do it. I'm feeling crummy today, my throat hurts, especially when I have to raise my voice for my kids to hear instructions. I'm betting that by the end of the week I'll have to suck it up and make sub plans, but for now I'm trying to tough it out.