This past week teaching has been crazy! I had a bad cold last weekend and the effects of it came during the week. I had really bad chest congestion which caused me to lose my voice. My guess is that I had laryngitis. I did ok with my classes on Monday but started really losing my voice during my last class. Because it was Halloween I of course ate lots of candy which didn't help the matter and while I was at a party that night, my voice completely gave out. I worried that night about how I was going to teach the rest of the week. I teach PE, so I have to talk if not yell most of the time. On my way to school I came up with the plan to just have my students watch a movie. I've had problems with my voice before and powered through it but I knew I could not do that this time. So I found an episode of the Magic School Bus that was about muscles and that's what my students watched. It only lasted 25 minutes so they were still able to do some physcial activity as long as they were good about listening and not talking while I tried giving directions. I powered through Wednesday which I probably shouldn't have done because my students Thursday had to watch Magic School Bus too. This means I watched the same episode 14 times! It was hard to stay awake. Besides that, I had two nose bleeds during classes. Anyone who knows me and my nose bleeds know they are no small matter. One I was able to control after about 5 minutes while the students were doing a game, but the other I had to run to the office and tell them to get someone to watch the kids while I took care of it in the bathroom. Dumb nose! By Friday I could talk loud enough for most to hear but still had to strain to talk loud.
All I know is that it was quite an adventerous teaching week. The teachers were really good about telling their classes to be on their best behavior and most were very sympathetic. I'm so glad I have really great teachers at both schools. After about giving up one day a teacher came to me and said, "I think you are still doing a wonderful job and remember, you're only human!" Those were some very simple but encouraging words. I realized that I can't do it all. Sometimes I need to do what I can to rest and heal and that is ok! I also felt good when I told a Kindergarten class that I had been sick so my voice sounded funny. A little boy then said, "but you still look beautiful!" I love little children :)
On a more postive note, my weekend was great. Sarah is off partying in Boston so I've been able to relax and really rest my voice at home alone. I also got to see my girls this weekend which was awesome. With the hustle and bustle of life, it's hard to get together with friends so I'm glad we were able to.
This picture is old but it's the most recent one I could find. LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!
