October never fails to disappoint as one of my busiest months for subbing. We’ve been in school since mid-August, so the teachers are exhausted, and the kids have now freely exchanged germs with abandon. There are so many open jobs each day it’s crazy, and I’ve gotten multiple requests this week.
If I get the slightest twinge in my throat, it’s time to start the Zicam nasal swabs and pop some echinacea lozenges. Last year, I never got sick, and so I’m hoping my preventative strategy works again this year.
What do you do to keep from getting sick during the school year?
clean out my ears with wet q-tips, so that it finds its way into the ear canals, and if I think i'm getting a cold or flu, I'll also swab out my nose out, it burns, but is very effective. It's been 25+ years since I've gotten the flu, (I never get the shot) and very seldom have cold symptoms unless I let it go too long, (about a day) but it kills it pretty quick.(overnight)
we had some students in CA get some pretty nasty strains that required treatment, this is what missionaries to foreign lands told me to try.
I subbed three days so far. I've had one boy come into class on Tuesday after being gone on Monday. I asked if he'd been sick, and he cheerfully announced that he'd barfed several times the previous day. 7th grader whose parents don't want him home because of behaviors. Luckily, the illness worked in my favor and he was very subdued. I used hand sanitizer and wiped down his desk. Today an 8th grade boy came into class and asked to go to the nurse. He was pale. He came back about halfway through class and promptly fell asleep at his desk. I left him alone. And cleaned off his desk when he got up to leave. I do NOT want to be sick!
I'll have to make this quick since I already wrote out a detailed answer and at the last minute it was deleted. I don't want to repeat the whole dang thing..
I haven't been sick in at least 2 years. The only thing I do differently is in the bathroom. I wash my hands after leaving the stall, I shut off the sink with a paper towel, and when I leave I open the door with the paper towel, hold the door open with my foot, throw the paper towel in the trash. There have been a couple of times that I couldn't reach the trash can and had to throw it away somewhere else.
It might not work for elementary, I only do high school.
I only do elementary and dang those kids are little germ factories! In fact I came home today and mixed up some Emergent-C. I buy either that or another similar one whose name is escaping me at the moment....but they're both something you mix in water. I take one every day. Also, last year I bought a big bag of dried mulberries on Amazon and made my own mulberry syrup because it was so hard to find in the stores, and so expensive.
But the main thing I do, that I learned from working in hospitals, is NEVER touch your face in any way unless you have just that second washed your hands. And when there's an epidemic going around I wash my hands every time I turn around, and I always wipe down desks, door handles, light switches, etc. whenever my class is out of the room.
Knock on wood, I think I only had one cold last year.
October is the start of the busy sub season! Hurray! But lots of sickness! Hand sanitizer and washing hands! I also use my own pens/pencils and wipe down the lap top I'm given by the office to use for the day. My first two years of subbing---I got so so sick and I felt like I had a constant cough or cold. I also do a lot of last minute calls for teachers and a good % of them, they are sick. So I've learned my lesson over the years!
Before I started subbing, I rarely got sick. Since subbing, I've had more than my share of colds and flu. I was taking extra vitamin C, but I've been lax this fall and now I'm home with severe strep throat (first time for that)! I plan to try every one of these suggestions from now on. Yikes! I enjoy the kids, but they ARE little germ factories!
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10-04-2018, 01:48 PM
