Initiation

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Initiation
By JulieP

Well, sounds like you have suffered one of the new teacher initiations. Trust me, this too shall pass. We have all been there our first year. Some teachers, especially 15 yr veterans, have a tendency to forget. I wound
up with strep throat four weeks into the school year, and felt so bad about it because a sub had to go with my class on our first field trip. I too got attitudes and looks from old and NEW teachers. Things REALLY got hairy when three weeks later I again got a scratchy throat, just thought it was allergies or the flu, and let it go. I wound up in the emergency room almost in critical

condition. By the time we got there, I could barely breathe. Severe strep again. I was told to take a week off and recouperate or the doctor would admit me.

I had put off doing anything like taking time off to see a doctor because of how I was treated by my peers, but lying there on that hospital bed, gasping for air, I realized that no one's warped opinion of my dedication for my job was going to cost me my life. No one else is going to take care of you if you don't take care of yourself. The reason that I got strep the second time was because I did not stay out long enough for the antibiotics to kick in. I went back, still contagious, infected one of my students, and we started the vicious cycle all over again.
My advice... Listen to the doctor..Take as many days as you need. The last thing that you want is a guilty feeling because half your class is out sick with something that you gave them. And trust me, it's worse the second time around.