My Nose Knows I Blew It. A Rough time To Be A Teacher.

[Teacher of the Year]

Pardon my horrible nose joke. It will make more sense later on.

Since Covid things have changed in schools. Staff has changed, students have changed and the system as changed. None of it for the good.

At my school the injuries have gone through the roof. When I used to post on DU (I'm back from a nine year hiatus) I shared some of my injuries on here. I think people are kind of shocked when they hear how much of a beating a special ed teacher takes. I was writing a national column while gone from DU and my essay on injuries had over 100,000 reads. It is a topic that needs to be discussed. [link:https://www.edpost.com/stories/im-a-teacher-not-a-boxer-and-im-tired-of-being-beat-up-by-my-students|

In the few years since I wrote that, the injuries have multiplied at a pace that is mind boggling. After three concussions in my old classroom (one in December, one in January and a third on in February) that left me dazed and confused, I was moved to a 3rd grade classroom. Jokingly I was told it would be harder for the kids to reach my head. Truthfully, it was because it would be harder for the kids to reach my head.

But our program of seven classrooms has taken hit after hit. Last year the K-1 teacher, next door to my left, quit just before school. They could not get a replacement. I got half of her kids and suddenly my 3rd grade class had K, 1,2 and 3. Four grade levels are hard to juggle and my class only had half of it's paraprofessional staff for almost half of the school year. This year they hired two conditionally licensed teachers in my program of seven teachers. (meaning they are in school to become teachers and have a conditional license until they graduate (ahem, or, in a more honest term, while they are trained how to do the job they are already doing). These teachers are struggling to work full time and be full time college students at night and on the weekends.

This year, the other K-2 teacher, on my right, quit just before school started, as did the 5th grade teacher. Both classrooms remain empty with no teacher. Once again, the kids were shuffled and this year, once again, I have four grade levels. 1,2,3 and 4. One student is deaf and I am learning sign language as we go.

The day before school started I was giving a tour and the student kicked me between the legs so hard I threw my back out. I started the year with a hurt back and the inability to cross my legs for several weeks. In December I would kicked there again so badly I had to go to Urgent Care for an ultra sound followed by several weeks of misery.

But I don't learn, I guess, and I went back to work. I had to have my arm xrayed last month (metal thermos full of oatmeal pitched across the room) and my foot after it was slammed in a door (multiple times). I had a really pronounced limp so an angry kid started stomping on my foot. I've been in a boot for two weeks and my foot has been attacked all but three of those days. Punched, stomped on, my foot is beyond sad, at this point.

The boot makes the job more difficult, that is for sure. I'm off balance and our stretched-out school means 7-8000 steps on an average day. Now I'm in a boot. I'm slow. The kids are targeting my foot. All reasons I should have stayed home. I could probably have had workman's comp if I asked. I'm a big guy putting a lot of weight on a sad little foot. That keeps getting stomped on.

But there are few subs willing to work in my room. I've had covid twice this year and my staff had to plow on without a teacher on some of those days. My absences put a huge burden on my staff. A lot of the anger is taken out on me-the guy making them work and not letting them go to recess. When I'm not there that anger goes to my staff. Who make half of what I make and who don't get the same workman's comp benefits I do. (they use their sick days when injured, I do not).

My kids also struggle when I am not there. I have a lot of single moms and that means, for many of my students, I am the man in their everyday life. It is unavoidable that my being gone stresses them out.

With all that in mind, I've continued to go to school, even with my limpy foot.

Yesterday I woke up, excited it was Friday. I usually spend Friday nights trying to catch up on paperwork so I can have at least one day of the weekend where I don't have to do school stuff. But last night I made plans. My husband is a 9-11 call dispatcher and works late, he was off though, so I was going to go out and eat and see a movie, then hang with my husband.

Instead I spent Friday evening in Urgent Care. I had to restrain a violent kid, but my boot threw me off balance and I had to grab a wall for balance. That created an opening and I took a punch, square on to my nose. I saw stars but had to restrain the student anyway. My ears were ringing, my nose swelled shut, I couldn't hear right out of my left ear. The headache took me back to my one-two-three concussions two years ago. Only this time my nose was making a crunching noise when I touched it.

They sent me to Urgent Care. On a Friday at 3 pm. I cried. Not because my nose hurt so bad, but because I didn't want to go sit in urgent care again. Two weeks ago I left school at 2;45 and didn't get home until almost 9 pm. And then I had to write the incident reports for the injuries before I could go to sleep (must be done by the end of the school day or you can be written up).

When I was sitting in Urgent Care. Masked up and stressed out I might get covid for a third time this year, I was beating myself up for putting my students before the health of my (piñata-like) head. Why did I go to work in this painful and awful boot and put myself at more risk? I pushed on my nose ("crack&quot and muttered to myself, "You blew it."

And there, alone in the corner at Urgent Care, I started to chuckle to myself, (kind of like a madman), as I pushed my nose again and thought, "my nose knows I blew it." Two women nearby gave a funny look, saw my t-shirt with my school's name on it (a specialized school for kids with behavioral needs) and one says, "I'm a special ed teacher too!" And the other woman says, "I'm a teacher!" and another woman who I hadn't noticed said, "I'm not a teacher but I work in a school too."

That's when they called my name and I left but think of that. Four school employees at urgent care. On a Friday. With a 3-4 hour wait to be seen.

And that, my friends and fans of nose puns, is why our communities need to step up and support their educators more. We are blowing it. Our students deserve better and so do our educators.