Rookie Reflections

For some reason, I have been on the verge of a nervous breakdown all week long. Things that wouldn't normally get to me are getting to me in a huge way. Let me tell you about my morning so far...

Today is COMMA DAY! (insert excited squeal) in Mrs. Duncan's class. Teaching commas is a little tricky, because the kids feel like it is a juvenile topic and they've seen the rules a hundred times before. Because of that, they act like they're too good to participate in the lesson (most of the time). In reality, even if they HAVE heard it a hundred times, they still misuse them frequently.

So, for comma day, I had a few fun little activities planned out for them after we finished discussing the rules of commas.

Well, commas got put on hold in a major way when a colleague of mine (and co-sponsor of the Interact Club) called me mid-class. She revealed that she had NOT done any of the fifty bazillion things she said she was going to do regarding the upcoming scholarship banquet and end of the year loose ends. I literally wrote down a page-long list of "to dos" while I was on the phone with her.

Then, as soon as I got off the phone (very frustrated), another teacher walked in. She is the case manager (CM) for one of my students with special needs (we'll call her Maggie - not her real name). Maggie has not been in class for about a week now. CM tells me today that Maggie is not feeling better and is actually feeling worse. CM thinks she has something similar to thrush, and Maggie is getting very worried about her health. About that time, Maggie walks in. She looks terrible. She asks me if I will gather her make up work for the past week and the next few days, which I do.

Come to find out, she doesn't have health insurance. She keeps going to doctors and hearing the same thing. I am not sure what they told her/gave her, but it is not working, and she is getting worse. She and her family are shelling out TONS of money (they they do not have) for these doctor visits, and she still can't get an accurate diagnosis. She could be the poster child in the case for universal healthcare.

Anyways, by the time Maggie and CM leave, I am all aflutter. Then, I get a phone call from another case manager. She would like to know if I will come sit in as the general education teacher on an IEP meeting. Guess when it is? During my lunchtime. Great! Sure, I would love to find out last minute that I have to sit in on an IEP meeting and miss my lunch! Grr.

Finally, I get off the phone. I look over at my students (for the first time in a while), and realize that they are all sitting patiently, quietly talking to their neighbors. They were being SO well-behaved that I was overwhelmed and thankful for them. One little girl looked up and me and said, "Mrs. Duncan, I think you need a day off." I think she's right.