Can you believe my kids have only been at school 3 days and I'm sick already. It started Friday with a sore throat by the time I got home I collapsed on the sofa and went to sleep, I woke up a sweaty mess. Yesterday was the worst, body aches, chills, fever, sweating... I hate being sick! I have been drugging myself up with theraflu gel caps and zicam swabs, I hope I'm better tomorrow. What can I do to help myself not keep getting sick?
Move the student’s wastebasket away from your desk. Keep a small one under your desk for you to use. Crack a window a tiny bit for fresh air. Plants are wonderful. Philodendron, Spider Plants and Wondering Jew are easy to grow. There are plants that were tested by NASSAU for their ability to filter and clean indoor air of pollutants such as cigarette smoke and chemicals from off-gassing of new carpeting and furniture, as well as others. Ferns, peace plant, spider plant, mother-in-law's tongue (snake plant), corn plant, etc, are just a few. Wash your hands often. Use anti-bacterial wipes or spray on the door knobs and wipe down student's desk everyday. Be sure and wipe their pencils. Put a bit of spray on their desk and give them a paper towel and let them clean before leaving each day. Never use student’s pencils. Don't let students use your pencils or scissors. Teach them to cough in their elbows, not on their hands. Spray the room with Lysol. Drink orange juice and green tea. Get a flu shot. Keep tissue box away from your desk. Never use tissue from the box that the students use. Cover the Baby Oil label, because they don’t want to be babies and use baby stuff. Put a label on it Magic and call it Magic. Great for chapped arms and legs. Vaseline is great for chapped lips. Dip a q tip in the Vaseline and give the student the q tip. Put your name on everything you buy. That way when you move grades or schools there won't be any question if it is yours or not. Wear comfortable shoes that is a must. For the aches and pains. Band aids the cheapest ones you can find. Baby oil with label off. Put your label on "Magic Portion" That will cure many aches and bumps. A damp paper towel. If you have a refrigerator, a small one from college. Perfect. Put a couple zip bags with a wet paper towel in the freezer for bumps. You can keep you a can of soda and your lunch in there also Read some small picture books and record them. You will be so glad to have them when you get a sore throat. GERMS--- sneeze and cough and about spreading germs. (Of course this is done in August when it's still hot!) I hold a misting bottle in my hand (they think I am taking care of the critters or plants) and start talking to them, suddenly I start sneezing and coughing. I squirt the misting bottle in the air as I do. I am walking around the room so I tag 'em all! I ask them what I should have done and of course they all yell "cover your mouth". So I "sneeze" and "cough" using the bottle in my hand. My hand gets soaking wet. I then walk around the room shaking hands, touching shoulders, pencils, desks, etc. They realize how far my "germs" spread. It leads to a really good discussion on how to prevent spreading germs. GERMS-----Have the kids divide into three equal groups. Have one kid from each group come up and spray their hand with water then dip it into a bag of glitter. Have each of the three volunteers dip in three different colors. Then they go back to their group and shake hands with everyone in their group. Once you have done that have the kids inspect their own hands for "germs". Then coat the volunteers hand again and let all of the kids shake with kids from the other groups. You could give a limit of shaking with 7 kids or something. When they are done they should have a fairly good dose of "germs" on their hand. You can then go over proper hand washing techniques while they wash the "germs" away. "Immunity diet". It consists of dairy products like yogurt and cottage cheese (for the whey protein), lots of tomatoes (and substitute tomato soup for chicken noodle when you're sick), www.womenshealthmag.com if you're interested. DO NOT touch your eyes and/or nose Sharper Image Germicidal Air Purifier works to great to clean the room. It really works to cuts down on the number of times the teacher and students get sick. Sharper Image products are little pricey
take vitamin C (and or drink orange juice). Vitamin C is a vitamin Pee so your body will get rid of what you don't need. Train your kids (even K's) not to touch the kleenex on your desk. I keep a kleenex and germ-x for "my use only" Get enough sleep Eat breakfast and small meals throughout the day Try not to stress
I'm in the same boat as you!!! I've been pumping the vitamins and am feeling a little bit better! Hang in there, yogurt is also really good because of the good bacteria it has in it. YAY for kids and their germs. =)
The flu seems to be starting early this year. At my daughter's school, they have 3 (one teacher and 2 students) who have tested positive for the flu last week.
Ugh! That stinks! I hate getting sick. I strongly believe that we are more susceptible to illness when we are stressed, tired, and overworked. The beginning of the school year is totally a time for stress, not getting enough sleep, and having to do too much all at once. It's the worst! The advice here is great. I'll also add that you should make sure to get plenty of sleep, take your multivitamin every day, drink lots of fluids (water, decaffeinated drinks, low-sugar juice), and schedule a few minutes of time each day for yourself. Even 15 minutes of alone time can work wonders! Talk a walk, read a book, hop into the tub--whatever floats your boat. When I feel myself getting congested or sinusy, I use a saline nasal spray and lots of ibuprofen--the saline helps flush out the gunk that's building up, and the ibuprofen helps shrink down the inflammation. You might consider buying Vitamin-C drops--they're usually in the cold medicine section near the cough drops. Have a few of these each day. I also like the generic Airborne. It tastes sort of weird, but it's packed with vitamins and minerals, which your body needs to fight off illness.
Keep a pumper filled with disinfectant hand wash (the kind that doesn't need water) on your desk. I go through a bottle in a week.
As I have asthma, I've become a fanatic about germs!! I use nothing the kids touch/have on their tables (supply totes). I don't use the sink in the classroom. I have my own box of kleenix, garbage can, hand wipes, lotion (winter air dries hands fast-kids have their own bottle). I get plenty of sleep, take vitamin c when I feel something coming on, healthy eating, not bringing so much home to work on, and a "jammies" day every so often. On jammie days, I shower and put on clean jammies. My day is spent reading, watching movies, talking on the phone with friends, and if I planned the day ahead, my favorite snack or two. This works wonders!!!!!!!!!!!
