So, second entry not associated with Samhain's Sirens.  Let's see where this takes me...

I want to blog about being sick and being a teacher.  Anyone in the teaching business knows the old meme about how much easier it is to just go in sick rather than coming up with plans that are worth the paper they are printed on.  I have been sick since last Friday (it is Tuesday now).  Over these days I have taught 3 separate concepts in Physical Science and two in Physics.  If I had taken this time off, would the children have learned any of the things I taught?

The problem with taking a day off is that only a few of the children can actually learn a new concept without the teacher there to give the lesson.  Those top readers could just read something, say a textbook (if we had updated ones), and be given some practice problems/questions and from those two things figure out the concept well enough to not need much intervention from the teacher.  Sometimes a sick day falls on a review day, but with block schedules the norm in my district I rarely have a whole day spent reviewing.  Just not enough days to spend doing that.  Plus my reviews often involve active participation (modified jeopardy or other whole-class games of review).

I hate leaving plans that involve just watching a movie.  I show October Sky for both Physical Science and Physics, an inspirational film approved for these classes.  It gives the kids a break from the rigors of the Physics part of Physical Science, makes them feel like they are getting a reward, and can be inspirational (have you seen the film?).  Plus I make sure they watch it by giving a list of questions and grading them.  But I still get the nagging feeling that they are simply not learning...especially when I get back answer sheets that are half-filled.  If I am there I can just send a kid out of the classroom with a sheet of practice problems if they are not watching.  The practice problems are graded and that grade added in for the movie questions grade.  But when I use the movie to fill in my sick-day plans, it simply gives me a tinge of guilt.

As for emergency plans, well, those are only for extreme emergencies, like the teacher getting in an accident on the way to work.  They are not for sick days!

OK, griping over.  Now, what can be done about this problem?  Maybe nothing.  Maybe if I had just taken Friday off, I would have been better by Monday instead of feeling progressively worse and needing tomorrow off.  But then the movie would have been Friday, and the students would have three days to forget whatever I taught Thursday.  Really, being sick as a teacher is a no-win situation.

And that's all I feel like typing about that.  Hope you have enjoyed reading this.