Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Pass the Clorox, please!

This morning, about 6:30, I got a call at home from on of the school secretaries. "Mrs. L., I hate to bother you at home, but we have a situation in Mr. M's room." What? A situation? Are we going to DefCom 3? What does that mean?

Mr. M is the teacher in the classroom across the hall from me. His class is for students with severe/profound disabilities. Evidently, all but one staff person (a classroom aide) were down with a stomach virus today - Mr. M included. I happen to be certified to teach students with that level of disability, so I was asked to be in that classroom today - with my small-group assistant (who's worked in this classroom in the past), and that one poor assistant who was not sick. Turns out, she's like the Typhoid Mary of the virus - she had it first, about 3 weeks ago. Great.

The up side? I can wear jeans when working in that class.

I still had to teach my small-group classes, and have my home-room group. Other than that, I was in this classroom today. Fortunately, (for me - not for the students) all but 2 students were ALSO out with this virus. So here we were, three adults and 2 students. Had to be that way, because you must have 2 staff in that class at all times, in case of medical emergency (or diaper changes, where you have to have 2 people in the bathroom to lift a heavier student on to the changing table.) Too much information? Welcome to my world.

It was a relatively stress-free day, however. One student is very self-sufficient, so we mainly had to deal with the other. We also were able to go out after lunch and walk around the track for their PE time - something I never get to do on a normal day. The weather was beautiful today, so that was great.

I also decreed (being the head honcho for the day, and all) that we spend some time cleaning all surfaces and materials in the room. Since it was a nice day, we also had the windows open all day - getting the bad air out, and letting the good air in. I washed my hands more today than I have in the last week.

After being in this "hot zone" all day, I think bathing in Clorox might be good idea. The assistant principal thanked me this afternoon for helping out, adding, "Now I hope you don't get sick."

Me, too.

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