Yesterday, as I have mentioned, my classroom teacher was in a car accident. Despite telling her several times that I could handle the class if she was not feeling well today, she came to school. I am greatful that I have such a dedicated mentor but also I know that she was pretty uncomfortable all day.
I may have overstepped my place a little by basically taking over the entire morning but I thought it was important that she rest and not hurt herself more. I have been doing the morning message every day and after that I simply went on to what was next instead of handing things off to her. I have said it before and I’ll probably say it a few times more, I’m not a nurse but in my opinion it was better for her to rest.
While I was reading (which was something I just took over without asking…) a student came up to me and claimed he was sick. This particular student has claimed that on several occasions and I took it with a grain of salt and kept reading. He then said he was going to be sick. Again, I took it with a grain of salt and simply told him to stand near the trash can and I would be there when I finished reading fully intending for his “sickness” to pass and for him to wander back over to the carpet to here the rest of the story. As I turned the page and began to read, I heard it… That terrible sound of vomit hitting the bottom of an empty trash can. I rushed over and rubbed his back and told him it was okay while he proceeded to throw up several more times.. In situations like these the best thing to do is stay calm and think. I instead blurt out, “I guess he really was sick.” My classroom teacher and the aide had been chatting in the back of the room and happened to to look up at the same time I looked up for help as the poor kid got sick again. I said the only thing I could think of to say (which could also be said as “the first thing that came out my mouth without thinking”) “hello- I need some help.” The aide took the student to the school nurse because, again, I am no nurse!
The final straw on this camel’s back was later in the afternoon. The student who was sick did not go home because he was not running a fever and the nurse had found out the cause of his queasiness. I was passing out dice for a math game when it happened. (A little backgrounder me- despite my lifeguard/ CPR/ first aid certifications, I am terrible squeamish around blood. Blood in any amount. Good thing I am not a nurse… I am head-between- my- knees, immediately light- headed, and prone to fainting around even the smallest of amounts of that nasty stuff.) I saw it before he did. One drip; then it came. I have never lunged for a tissue so violently in my life. I managed to keep most of it on the tissue. As I am standing there in my slightly light headed and completely grossed out state, I hear from across the room, “Miss Haley will get you some dice.” My response, “no Miss Haley won’t because Miss Haley is a little busy right now.” The boy went back to the nurse for the second time that day all due to fluids leaving his body involuntarily. I am no nurse…
The View from Student Teaching 