Schools are the perfect place to spread illness! If you are in a season where germs at school are rampant, here are some things I have learned along the way that may help busy teachers!
Keeping Your Students Healthy
One of the things that my students appreciate all year long, but especially when it’s germs at school season, is my sanitation station.
I bought a little table at a tag sale years ago. I cover it with a seasonal tablecloth, and I add Kleenex, hand sanitizer, some body cream, some paper towels and a school-approved spray cleaner. The garbage can is nearby.
Students can get up and use what they need. And luckily, high school students usually use the hand sanitizer after every nose blow! During germ season at school, my sanitation station gets a workout!
I am very fortunate. I work in a district that if I send an email to all families asking for Kleenex, hand sanitizer or body cream, a few people normally come through. So I’m not spending tons of money on this stuff. But it makes for a more pleasant experience for the students, and keeps all of us a bit healthier!
Student Desks
Another tip is to get students involved in regular desk cleaning during germs at school season at school. I have a study hall, and I can’t help but notice that a lot of them are not using this time to complete their school work. So, when I have little jobs, I ask them to help me! If they’re not going to do school work, helping me gives me a reason to start a conversation and forge a relationship. And many of these students feel good about helping.
At least in my state, cleaners that can be used in school are regulated. When it’s germ season at school, be sure that you are using a cleaner that is approved by the school. I ask students (usually study hall students) to take the spray and the paper towels and give the desk surfaces a wipe down.
This daily wipe down can really help reduce the spread of germs in your class!
Staying Home When You’re Sick
Staying home when you’re sick is easier said than done. Last week, I missed 2 days in a row because I had a mystery virus. It’s so humbling to be sick (shout out to all our friends dealing with chronic illness or long-term illness- you’re my heroes!)
To make it easier to stay home when you’re sick, here are a few tips that saved me this time!
- Have at least 2 emergency activities created and copied for each course you teach. Store them in the same place every year. These activities should be something students can do independently and something that could make sense at any point in the year. Calling a colleague to say- Hey- I’m sick. Can you go in X drawer and take out the Y activity I had stored in there?- gives you some wiggle room so you’re not spending an hour making lesson plans when you’re feeling terrible!
- I always recommend this, but during germ season, make your lesson plans and copies ahead of time. Last week, I had all my copies ready for the week, so when I was out on Wednesday and Thursday, I was able to adapt my plans quickly and tell my colleague where on my table the copies were. Then, all she had to do was print my sub plans for me!
- Cut down on the amount of work you will have when you get back by creating self-correcting activities or group activities. Things like Edpuzzles or Google Forms will correct for you! And writing challenges, for example, require a group of 4 to all write, but then you can correct only one paper from the group and assign that grade to everyone! It was a life-saver for me last week!
Managing Make-up Work For Absent Students
When germs at school are taking down pockets of students in every class, the make-up work can get overwhelming. I have a system for dealing with this which I have honed over the years. I’m really happy with how it’s going right now!
1. I type my lesson plans for myself and link in all my activities. (This means if I teach the same course again, I have an awesome starting point!) I copy and paste the week’s plans into a new Google Doc. I make small changes, like unlinking the writing assessment! Then I post the lesson plans each Monday. ***I train my students to look for those plans.****Some are curious about what we’re doing for the week. And all the kids that are absent learn to look there before asking me any questions.
It cuts down SO MUCH on the millions of questions like “What did we do yesterday?”. I refer them to the lesson plans, and tell them to email me any questions.
2. We use PowerSchool for grading. If a student misses an assignment for any reason, I put in a zero. This really freaks out some students (and some parents!) but it’s just a placeholder. The zero often impacts their grade quite a bit, and it helps remind students and me that something needs to be made up. PowerSchool gives me the option of using tags, like absent, missing, incomplete. My system is to use the absent tag when something can be made up. (This separates those who simply didn’t do it, and I don’t have to remember who was who.) And you can write a comment. “Katie will make up this test on 2/18.”
I have also come to realize that when I leave a score blank, I often don’t remember that something needs to be done. When I go back at the end of a marking period to double check and find a blank spot, adding a zero at the last minute causes everyone problems.
Activities for When There Are Germs At School
Last, I will leave you with a list of activities that work well with a sub and/or when you’re there but not feeling great. The ones that are linked are ones I use with my students if you want to check them out further!
Songs: listen and fill in the blanks
Resources
Spanish Texting: Videos and Interactive Drag and Drop Activity! Fun!
Spanish Collaborative Writing & Reading Activities: Teen Life
Spanish Seal of Biliteracy Listening and Speaking Daily Routine
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