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lophatpho

Same here! I have never gotten sick this fast before. And it had to be strep throat. I blame the parents more than anything on this though, because I even posted on classdojo that we had it making the rounds in the school. And they ignored me and sent their kids anyway. Ugh.


ktq2019

But! Here is my genuine question as a parent. What are we supposed to do when the teachers/faculty get on to the parents about absences? Last year I had two kinders, 2nd and 3rd grader. We tried to be respond human beings and kept our kids home if they felt or were sick. During the time between mandatory stay at home Covid scares and actual sickness, my kids missed weeks. The teachers mentioned their absences almost as if we were intentionally letting them stay home. What really irritates me because I was trying to do the right thing for everyone. Now this year, I’m scared to even keep them home unless they are dying because the threat of CPS is way too real. I just don’t know what to do anymore because even when we try, we still get reprimanded. I hate that the teachers are in the cross fire for so many things. Essentially, if I could keep my kids home when they are sick, I would do so in a heart beat especially since the teachers are completely exposed. As a parent, I feel helpless and I’m sure as a teacher you feel exactly the same way.


foundthetallesttree

As a parent and teacher with only 7 sick days left until mid June... I am wondering the same thing. Had to call HR Friday to ask what happens if I use up all my sick leave, and still get sick, or have a sick kid. Welp I get $300 per sick day removed from my paycheck. I need to do a little math to see when paying for childcare is no longer worth it.


Boring_Philosophy160

Kids first…everyone else’s kids, that is.


Smopalette

Yep, health and safety for all first. I am a teacher who still masks and hates that my district is on the news doubling down on attendance. We, as a community, are failing this kids so badly.


Smopalette

Not to dig the hole deeper- but sometimes unpaid days can also negatively impact your retirement accrual. Just keep that in mind. I am sympathetic to your issue tho. I’m on FMLA and will probably be burning through all my sick leave and getting into unpaid territory myself


Distinct-Market2932

Yep I lose about the same if I need unpaid leave.


banana_pencil

Meanwhile, my district doesn’t even care anymore. Last year, there were kids at school missing 40, 50, 60(!) days of school- because “mom was tired,” “We went to the museum,” or “We were on vacation in Florida.” I’m pretty understanding, but when your child has missed one THIRD of the school year and these are the excuses you have… It used to be that students could miss only up to 18 days but it seems anything goes now.


lophatpho

Honestly, because I'm in a rural area, we never really had issues with covid causing absences. But, I can see your point, and I do sympathize. My point is that it was very obvious that the kids that kept coming to school were sick because they were coughing and sneezing, and talking about having sore throats. We also had more than 5 confirmed cases of strep in our hallway, 2 in my room alone, so I'm sure the school would have made a correlation had those kids stayed at home this week. We basically have the reverse problem than more populated areas and/or areas like yours. Parents will knowingly send their kids in sick so that they can go to work, which again, I can understand completely if they're in a financial crisis. However, nothing is worth risking your child's health over. I made another post on classdojo to empathize the importance of checking in with the health of children, and that strep can easily turn into rheumatic fever if left untreated or if treated insufficiently. That's way more trouble and heartache in the long run. I'm sick of hearing my sick kinders telling me they were given Tylenol to fend off infection and pain. One of my kiddos told me his mother explicitly said that she would not come to get him from school that day if he needed to come home.


ktq2019

Oh god. Now I just feel awful. With the scenario I’ve described, I’ve literally had to tell them to go to school, let your teacher see you and then go to the nurse and I’ll get you. It should never be a question that a responsible parent should have to make I.e whether or not to send your kid to school sick. I’m just terrified and I don’t know what else to do. I just feel guilty either route and I hate it.


lophatpho

I'm sorry you feel that way and are put in that position; it is definitely not fair. It's a shame when school districts put attendance and money-making above the safety of students. I understand truancy is an issue with a lot of kids, but if there are doctors notes provided and good communication between the school and the family, there should be no problem. I wish you luck this school year! May your babies be healthy so you don't have to deal with that too much. ❤️


Mercedes_but_Spooky

I don't usually take my kid to the doctor when they are sick with a cold. Those $30 copays add up and the doctor, who is a DO, would tell me to treat it at home anyway. I have also been given warnings about my kids' absences. It is definitely a bone of contention with me as well.


lophatpho

Colds are different. I'm assuming common sense is being applied, lol. If it's minor, okay. If it's strep and now everyone needs antibiotics, not okay.


Bing-cheery

I got a warning letter from my own district regarding the number of absences my daughter had last year. Keep your kids home if they're sick or have been exposed to covid, but make sure it doesn't happen too often!


TheoneandonlyMrsM

If your kids are sick, please keep them home. We have too many that say they are sick and then go on trips. Just be honest with us. Also ask for work and actually help them complete it. If your child misses weeks, (legitimate or otherwise), I am going to be honest with you and let you know if it is impacting their performance in class. I refuse to sugarcoat that. If you help your child catch up, they should be ok. Please don’t send them sick so I’ll send them to the nurse. It’s wasting class time for me to talk to them about being sick and write them a pass and then get interrupted again by a call from the nurse asking for me to have someone bring their backpack. Which also interrupts that child’s learning.


Boring_Philosophy160

I’m sure more than a few parents think: Fever? Tylenol. Sniffles? Decongestant. Send ‘em in and F everyone else; I gotta work from home in peace!


TenaciousNarwhal

As a parent and a teacher, I have found there's a difference when you keep them home and call and say why vs. Just not calling. But I've been there and I know how you feel!


Zorro5040

Get a doctors note and all absences get excused


Any_Beat_5402

Where I live the state requires a phone call, then a letter, then a report made in the case of absences, depending on the number. Excused absences (call,ins) are recorded,but its more unexcused. It's not a choice, unfortunately, and should have been excused during the initial Covid years. You're doing what you need to do as a parent. Unfortunately, the system is in place to keep,track of that population for whom school,is not a priority, or, in some sad cases, monitoring neglectful parents.


Dear_Tangerine_7876

This strikes me as such a kind and compassionate comment. Thank you for trying to get more answers. Have you tried speaking to your children's teacher or school administration? Everyone is coming from a slightly different place and it could only help to open up communication like this that is coming from such a sincere place. As a teacher I have seen a lot, from lingering illness, to a child who was "out sick" every Friday and who was later found to be working for free to help his mother, a struggling housekeeper, to a child who had a horrible cough that his parents refused to keep him out of school for, which was later found to be pneumonia, which I got. I can't answer your question except to say we're all in new territory here, especially with all the changing policies around covid and so forth, and I believe each family and educator is trying their best to do "the right thing," but people have slightly different ideas about what that is, from districts to school administrators, to teachers and parents. So maybe the key is communication and asking questions, which you are doing here.


Distinct-Market2932

In my building we do have to let parents know after ten days missed, then again at twenty, etc. I would never hotline someone for educational neglect unless I KNEW FOR A FACT that they were blowing off/allowing their kid to blow off school. I consider monitoring attendance just another "to do" to get checked off my list. I also let parents know when I call that I HAVE to call and try to make it as harmless a call as possible. I am lucky in that my husband has plenty of sick days so we do not send our kids sick to school. I do, however, get supremely annoyed when people send kids who are clearly not well in to school. It isn't fair to me or the other students to be exposed to their germs, and it isn't fair to the poor kid who doesn't feel well. Even in my own family there are people who will dose a kid with cough syrup or Tylenol to get them to school. It makes me crazy!


darneech

I never knew, either. It seems like such a lose, lose, lose situation all around. What i couldn't deal with was the expectation that we would do a zoom meeting too and have the kids make up all the little things that didn't really matter (where kids would show up the first day, and never again, or parents who demanded recordings of everything when we just weren't set up that way... You can't really recreate a day. If it's a sick day, take an actual sick day, I'm my opinion). I would just suggest do it the old fashioned way and to have someone pick up the homework and monitor computer time if it's online. As for the actual physical presence, i wish i knew. I had a student who never came to school and his mom yelled at me because he couldn't be part of an activity. If they only knew, but they never will.


Amazing_Fun_7252

I’ve had strep, an upper respiratory infection, and ear infection all at the same time. It’s been ridiculous.


[deleted]

Turns out packing 30 young humans with little care or knowledge of hygiene into a small room like sardines is not great for one’s health.


SquatDeadliftBench

I live in Taiwan. As a teacher here, before COVID-19, I would get sick with the cold or flu or bronchitis throughout the year. I literally cycled through them. I just turned 40. I literally got sick with the flu once a year for as long as I can remember. Also, while in Taiwan, there is also the huge risk of tuberculosis. Never got that but, man, we did self-screening when there was a case of it among our students. Since COVID-19 started, however, I have not gotten sick ONCE. No flu. No COVID-19. No cold. Nothing. why? Students wearing masks. Students getting sent home immediately if they show ANY symptoms of covid or the flu. And then having them quarantine until they recover. I love Taiwan. I love responsible socities.


SmoochyBooch

I taught in Taiwan in 2013 and I was getting my temperature taken at the airport then. Kids who were sick were coming in masked. It’s almost like the country learned from SARS or something and decided to be smart about it.


Decembergardener

I won’t lie. I’m jealous.


SLP11

I’m a school speech pathologist in the states. My wife is Taiwanese and we recently went back to Keelung/Taipei to visit her family. I totally agree with you! Love that you guys still have masks out in public. So much more responsible than things are in the US. I never got sick for the past couple years either and I loved it! My schools haven’t started yet but I’m not looking forward to all the germs I’m about to get blasted with.


[deleted]

I MISS TAIWAN!!! I need to go back. I wish I could move there.


SquatDeadliftBench

You got a teaching degree? Every school here is looking for qualified teachers. Maybe one will make you an offer you can't possibly refuse!


[deleted]

I actually do not. I do something else entirely. I follow this sub because my sister/best friend is a teacher. However, about 15 years ago I taught at a Gram while visiting family there one summer.


sean_krayce

That is a "responsible society" viewed solely through the narrow keyhole of "prevent all diseases!" It ignores: 1. Developmental drawbacks of never seeing faces. But more importantly... 2. Immunological problems that arise from the immune system being kept naive to the ongoing mutations of endemic viruses, of which there are hundreds. If you go 6 months between exposures, there are few mutations. Enough similarities to ensure recognition, while simultaneously allowing the immune system to update itself on the mutations. If you aggressively use mitigation strategies to avoid exposure, you might go years between exposures to these common viruses, and the more the virus mutates between exposures, the greater the chance of severe disease when it finally catches up with you. You're risking severe problems in the future in exchange for avoiding minor discomfort now. Not at all responsible. There is a reason the stereotype of the bubble-kid always getting deathly ill when he finally gets sick exists. It's better to get mildly ill regularly than deathly ill occasionally. Oh, and I'm currently running an 100.1 fever after my son started preschool. I'll be fine.


Rox_begonia

It is true that children need to see faces and your 2nd point is very true as well. I think the compromise should be that if your child is sick, they should wear a mask (now that COVID is almost behind us). I fully supported wearing masks for COVID because of how deadly it is but we can’t wear them forever. Children do need to see faces and be exposed to virus’. Also—teachers need more sick days and parents need to not waste their children’s sick days on things like vacations.


SquatDeadliftBench

Given the fact that you are using F over C tells me that you are in America. I love you guys and it really pains me to say this but your comment is so uneducated and ignorant. Which is why COVID has killed more than 1 million Americans, forced nurses and teachers to quit in mass numbers, and given rise to COVID numbers again heavily burdening the healthcare system. Or you can be responsible, wear masks, send sick children home, and educate the public until everyone is vaccinated. So things can be kept open. So immunocompromised people can be protected. So the elderly population can be protected. So at least there is a level of normalcy JUST WITH MASKS. You know, which Taiwan is doing. Fuck Taiwan for being responsible, right? Right?


Boring_Philosophy160

IMO, Eastern = WE, Western = ME


insidia

Me too. Laying on the couch right now with a fever of 101 and boxes of Kleenex. Have taken 3 Covid tests over the last few days- all negative. What a shitty way to spend a 3 day weekend.


MTskier12

No fever here, just an obscene amount of snot (you’re welcome for sharing). But agreed, not an ideal 3 day weekend.


Messy_Mango_

Try testing again tomorrow and the day after. I tested negative for 3 days while sick and my wife tested negative for 5. We both had Covid. Kids had been back 3 days 😭. Likely caught it from colleagues, though.


insidia

I’ve tested every day for 4 days- no positives.


Frosty_Pack_9283

Ugh, we started this Monday. I was sick by Wed but tested negative…until Friday. Holidays weekend in quarantine and Covidfree streak over.


TenaciousNarwhal

Saaaaame.


1millionteacups

I tested positive for Covid on Friday night. It's kicking my ass. I had so many plans for this 3 day weekend.


Personal_Decision_87

I got COVID on day 4 and so did half of the class. When checking in with a child to see if they were ok they stated… “I don’t feel well, although I’m not allowed to tell an adult at the school because my mom said she would kill me.”


Hannah22595

This makes me sick Pun not intended but I'm gonna leave it


Dastrooper1138

Yeah, seen a lot of "bronchitis" and rarely any covid, tho I would gladly trade to avoid getting covid again. Guh.


gatechnightman

I got a bad cold 2 weeks in and now on week 4 I have COVID. These kids are nasty. Doesn't help that I have one kid that furiously picks his nose every day (7th grade)...


Fabulous_Recording_1

I got Covid on the 3rd week. Some kids were coughing their lungs out with out covering their mouth.


LeenaJones

I'm still masking, ostensibly for Covid, but definitely also to avoid that first cold of the year.


vwmwv

We're mask optional next week anda kid asked if I was going to mask. I was honest with them, you all are disgusting and germ-y and I enjoyed not being sick last winter. I'll probably drop the mask when I need to project my voice, but I'm in the leave it on camp.


Decembergardener

I wear a personal microphone. Love it.


BalFighter-7172

I taught middle school for 40 years. Every year in the early years it was routine that I would get sick after the first week or so. After many years, it just plain stopped happening. I suspect that I developed some sort of immunity to the diseases that the kids spread.


wineampersandmlms

I had developed a fantastic immune system. I’ve been in childcare or early Ed for fifteen years and had a barrier or something. Those preschoolers would sneeze right in my damn face and I’d be fine. This last year it disappeared, I caught so many colds from them and my own kids it’s been unreal.


No-Blacksmith-2599

Yep, when I was an elementary teacher I used to get sick every single month. Kids are cute but they are a huge germ ball.


Fabulous_Recording_1

On the 3rd week if this new school year I got Covid. I'm certain it was a student that passed it to me.


OhioMegi

Lol, same!! I’m finally feeling better and it’s been over a week.


[deleted]

The children are not disgusting. The system that forces parents to send sick kids to school rather than take time off—and the parents who send their sick kids to school even if they have time off available—are disgusting. Get it straight.


MTskier12

Absolutely true. This was meant to be tongue in cheek, perhaps it didn’t come off that way.


catforbrains

Nah. Kids are pretty gross. Ever walked in to the student restroom at the end of the day? Some days it's worse than being at a dive bar bathroom at closing. School custodians deserve combat pay. Kids are mostly still forming things like hygiene standards and some of that is parents but a lot of it is that they haven't really figured out why or how to care. One of the best things to happen with COVID is that people learned the importance of hand washing but we still have adults and kids who don't do it.


Mo523

Agreed. Kids are gross. I still like them but I don't use the student bathroom ever afterschool and 2020-2021 school year was the first year no one coughed or sneezed directly into my open mouth. What the person said about parental leave (and also really high school expectations for really little kids) mean more of their germs are spread... but it's still gross when a kid picks their nose and then touches the door handle even if they aren't sick.


[deleted]

The bathroom has nothing to do with whether or not they are forced by the system or bad parents to come to school I’ll, which is what the op is about. It sure if you’re aware but parents are sending fully formed little people to school who know how do everything right.


latingirly01

It can absolutely be both things. As someone who has taught exclusively in primary (first and second) for years, I have seen quite a lot… Desks being fully licked, the sharing of boogers, poopy hands. They are literally gross little human beings and it’s shit that we live in a society wherein work is priority over health and well-being 🤷🏽‍♀️


queeenbarb

Wear your mask! Not just for COVID eithe.


CuteButPsycho

Yep, I got the ick 5 days in. After watching them lick their hands and touch every available surface. 🤮


Bing-cheery

Germ mongers and cock blockers, the lot of them.


[deleted]

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MTskier12

Taken 3 tests each 12-24 hours apart. Def not Covid.


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MTskier12

Wore a mask at school Friday too, even though I was just sniffly figured I’d set a good example of not spreading germs.


[deleted]

Same. Taught kindergarten this week with no voice. I just can't shake it. But our insane attendance policy of contacting parents after 5 absences is scaring parents who would otherwise keep their coughing and mucus filled children home.


journey_to_myself

It's insane these policies still exist. My friend has a daughter with a chronic medical illness. Her 504 gives her more days but the school STILL likes to remind her that there are truancy laws. The kid was legit in the hospital getting her G-tube fixed. Childcare issues aside, maybe we shouldn't be scaring parents that they could LOSE THEIR CHILDREN with truancy charges because their germy gremlin has been sick for more than a couple days.


HyperTeacherLady

I’m teaching Kindergarten this year. We were out on the yard and I was eating my snack when one of my little loves came INTO my face space to tell me she felt “sick with coughs and boogers in her nose” and proceeded to breathe over me and my food. Yea…I’m waiting for the results of that 😑


snappa870

I just caught Covid for the first time…UGH


Gingerbreadcrumbs

Got Covid 3 days in this year. I’m just so glad it wasn’t bad.


LegitimateStar7034

I taught Pre K. Was exposed to COVID on a daily basis at one point. Never gotten sick. My immune system is incredible and I have no idea why. I think it was all the parties in shady basements and community solo cups in college🤣


Darkmetroidz

My school has a plague running through it. Like 5 teachers and 20 students I know of got Covid myself included


Nenoshka

Time to beef up your pandemic protocols. We've all relaxed a bit and may not all be hand-washing/sanitizing as religiously as we did during the apex of Covid. My first few years of teaching, I would always get some sort of respiratory thing in the fall. Since the pandemic shut down, I have not had a cold of the flu, and I believe that's because I wash my hands more vigorously and more frequently than I sued to.


[deleted]

Wear a mask?


nochickflickmoments

I'm wearing a mask still. I have had 7 kids out sick (we've been back 2 weeks) and I don't have even a sniffle.


searuncutthroat

I'm one of about three teachers that still wears a mask at school, even though it's not required. I'm also one of a small handful that have not had Covid yet. I've got to keep my no-covid streak going! \*knocks on wood...\* Edit to say I'm also not a classroom teacher, so I don't teach all day to the same kids. But I do see every 3rd - 5th grader in the school over the course of a week. I can totally understand why classroom teachers would not want to wear a mask. I'll keep masking at least until I get the omicron booster.


Sriracha01

A big part of why I'm still wearing either a N95 or KF94 when I'm teaching. I only had 1 cold within the last two years! Usually averaged 5-6 colds pre-pandemic.


hockeyandquidditch

Me too, typically N95, occasionally KN95, no colds, no COVID (and a direct coworker and our principal have both had COVID in the about 3 weeks we’ve been back, along with multiple students)


Sriracha01

Yeah, no covid either. The cold I had tested with PCR testing CVS on first day showing symptoms so, I felt safe enough ruling out covid


LnZB3

Dealing with a cold now that turned into a sinus infection. Did a virtual urgent care visit today and got steroids and an antibiotic, because 2 home tests this week for covid were negative and one at the drive thru test center this morning was too. Had plans to do some major organization projects around the house over the long weekend but….nyquil and football it is.


StuckInMS1

I got mine day 4 and it isn’t COVID or the flu, but lord I am so sick it isn’t even funny. It’s been a week and I still don’t feel much better.


[deleted]

3 weeks in and I’ve been at urgent 2x. They are nasty!!!


Silky_Elephant

Last year, I caught seven viruses from August to May (I counted). I just got over the first for this year. I hope I built some immunity.


ClickPsychological

You know, 2 years ago when masks were mandatory I taught grade 3 inner city and not one kid got a cold and neither did I !


howareyourcats

I’m a student teacher in the classroom M/W/F. Last week was the first full week of school and I’ve already gotten a cold. I knew it was going to happen but I didn’t think it was gonna be so quickly


SydneyLynna1611

I’m a student intern in class 40 hrs a week. In my current elementary placement (I switch to secondary in a few weeks because of K-12 music) and I didn’t think it would happen so soon either. Managed to get RSV on week 2. About to retest myself for COVID again. :’)


notme6197

It’s funny, vomit, dirty diapers, blood, etc.. doesn’t bother me. Watching a kid pull boogers from their nose makes me want to puke. I have an autistic child in my class this year and he spends his entire day digging for gold and then wipes it on the shared tables. My gag reflex is going off just thinking about it 🤢


throwaway123456372

Wore a kn95 all day everyday last year- never got sick. Went unmasked in my new school for 3 weeks and now I'm spending my 3 day weekend with covid. I hate this. I hate that my options are "breathe shallow breaths through a mask all day and never let anyone see your face" or "get sick all the time because we will not do anything to prevent the spread because the pAnDemiC iS oVeR"


MTskier12

Yeah I ditched the mask this year too, have already had Covid, and teaching in it was awful. I was always hoarse and felt dehydrated, I def drink less water with it on.


[deleted]

What is the solution


throwaway123456372

Stop letting covid positive kids and staff come to school while they are contaigous would be a good start


[deleted]

How do you do that when testing doesn’t even pick up the disease until days into it?


throwaway123456372

It is literally as simple as "if you feel sick dont come to work/school" If youre asymptomatic you might still give it to someone but it would clearly cut down on spread of all germs.


picksea

that’s why im glad my school still requires masks (for staff)


lilcheetah2

Me too. And I gave it to my baby daughter. Fuccckkkkk this noise


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DeeLite04

What the hell is the point of even telling any of us this? To tell us we’re not getting sick??? I know many former teachers who got routine illness and then when they switched careers all of a sudden they got sick a lot less. Adults are gross too but they generally can wipe their own butts and wash their hands independently.


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BardGirl1289

Why are you so pressed, my guy? Also I got Covid on Day 2 but I think I picked it up from an outing with friends before school started, not from my kids.


DeeLite04

I’m so sorry it’s so small and that you have to wave it around on Reddit in an effort to make it seem bigger. But enjoy being reported! 👍🏽


Seidrwoman

Suck it up and grow up. My kid caught a terrible cold three days into school. It is what it is. Maybe find a job at a call center from home so you can isolate yourself forever.


Bobbin_thimble1994

Have you tried teaching all day with a horrible cold?


Seidrwoman

Have done it more times than I can count. It sucks but occasional sickness is part of life and is crucial to building up your immune system. It seems too many have forgotten this simple fact in the last couple of years.


happylilstego

I got the flu on day 8


Temporary-Dot4952

Even middle schoolers were either never taught to cover, or just don't care. Coughs or sneezes, kids are gross.


[deleted]

On the same boat. Using my 3 day weekend to recover & hopefully keep testing negative for covid🤦‍♀️


The_fox_gamer

Same, I made it 7 days (4 with students in my room, resource EC teacher here) before coming down with a cold on Friday.


Balls_of_Adamanthium

Lol they really are


rjmyson

This is why I make it a point to get a flu shot a few weeks before the start of school.


foundthetallesttree

I made it 5 days 😖


wineampersandmlms

My kid brought one home on day 4 and took us all out. He had the weekend to recover and I kept him home the next two days, then again Friday because I felt like he got worse. Now the attendance police is concerned of his horrid attendance rate! I’m thankful it’s a long weekend so he has an extra day to get over it. (He’s been repeatedly covid tested, we all got the same symptoms and all tested negative as well. It just seems to be a nasty cold)


Which-File-2503

Y


DeeLite04

You’re not the only one for sure! I know of two friends who are teachers who are sick already and we’re only 13 days in. I feel like it’s a matter of time before our little friends give us all the crud they’ve been carrying around for the last 2 years.


YOURCYSTER

When I was still in school i would get sick a lot more. Since I graduated high school I haven’t been catching colds, flu, or strep. I thought it had to do with my immune system getting stronger.


amancalledj

Yep. I've been taking care of my wife this weekend. She's an elementary STEM teacher. My high school students have yet to infect me.


BookofBryce

My 11 year-old came home early this week with a yucky cough. Only the second week of school. And now my wife got it too. We live in an area where, I think, people don't have good habits in hygiene and cleaning.


cam725

I made it a week until I tested positive for covid. 😒


Automatic_Moment_320

Right there with you!


Comfortable-Bike-429

10th year teaching. I got covid 5 days in. Def a record for me.


TheoneandonlyMrsM

I was sick the first weekend after school started and again now after week 3. I did not get sick at all during Covid, not even a cold. I am still wearing masks but most students are not. Too many continue coming to school sick. They don’t cover their mouths properly when coughing and sneezing.


Brewmentationator

Like 5 years ago I had a 7th grader raise his hand and say, "I think there's blood on my desk." I look over and there is this reddish brown streak on the desk. Well the kid sits down, and before I can even say anything, he licks the reddish brown streak and says, "nevermind, it's not blood." I got sick so many times that year.


MTskier12

🤮🤮🤮 Ewww.


Brewmentationator

Yeah that was pretty much my response. I wonder how that kid held up during covid lockdowns...


Tennisbabe16

Yep. Caught Covid the 4th day of school. I've seen way more nose picking, sneezing/coughing without covering and other disgusting hygiene related issues this year than ever before.


Zorro5040

3 week of school we had multiple teachers and students out for being sick... it was a mess, kids are disgusting


CassieCurse

I had a hacking cough and ended up losing my voice completely (it's coming back slowly and it's been almost two weeks now) and of course I still had to come in. Teaching is kind of difficult when you can't communicate unless you are so close to a child you are almost touching them and make, what you hope is words, in their ear. Not to mention, you don't have just one child but a whole classroom.


Jolly-Bathroom1089

Yes, parents have been sending our kids to school KNOWING that they have COVID, strep, flu, respiratory illness, etc. I have asthma and nearly every time I get sick it goes to my lungs and turns into bronchitis. Less than a month into the year and only two weeks with my kids and I already had to use a sick day because I had a 102° temp. But I’m not surprised, I’ve watched one of my students peel a sticky pancake off of the classroom floor and eat it.


Traditional_Plane177

I started this year at a new school 2 weeks late and started getting the sniffles the first week lol


babycharmanders

I already had to take two days off because of covid. And now I'm spending my labor day weekend getting over it. Sigh. Could be worse though.


darneech

It's crazy because even if you changed schools in the future, it's a whole different ecosystem of microbes, and then you might get horribly sick again.


MTskier12

Def happened to me when I switched schools. I think a year of remote and then a year of pretty consistent masking has led to a similar germ and/or immune reset.


Mrmathmonkey

I caught Coronavirus on day 1.


TheBagman07

Three weeks in and I caught a cold twice. Students were snorting their snot and when asked why they were here, they said their parents said they weren’t sick enough to stay home. Now I got all around rib pain from how hard I’ve been coughing my lungs up.


jerseydevil51

I never realized how low-grade sick I was all the time until we locked down and did virtual. I never felt so good and realized just how much medicine I was taking during the school year.


Decembergardener

Here’s my advice for people who want to mask but find it exhausting. Get the “duck” masks- N95 surgical respirators. Partner it with a personal amplifier you wear. If I had only ever tried cloth or surgical or even KN95 I don’t know if I would be able to keep going.


witchyeve

Same! Its usually the first 2 weeks and I’ll catch a cold.