{PandaMomo Lifestory} "shining as a star ...life is a never-ending journey of discovery learning"

04 February 2007

Sick with flu, bad sore throat and cough

Sniff sniff, kekeke... I have been sick for the past 1 week. Since week 4, I had a sore throat. On Monday, I started to have the flu symptoms... feel hot n cold, dry throat and stuffy nose. Despite taking Redoxon all-day-defence vitamin pills everyday, my body immune system is still low.

A number of factors leading to my falling ill:
1. naughty children who make me angry and shout at them
2. weather changes from hot to cold and vice versa due to GLOBAL WARMING
3. a number of children in my class are sick
4. a number of my fellow teachers are down with flu
5. go to classroom -->hot, to to staffroom --> cold... sudden changes in temperatures
6. improper meals and insufficient rest...

From term 1 week 4, I was sleeping weird hours. Usually when I get home, I am so tired. After dinner, I will go to sleep at around 8pm on average. Guess what time I will wake up? I wake up at around 2am to plan for my lessons and mark my pupils' work... endless marking of activity worksheets and practices. As the saying goes, "Practice makes perfect". Hence, the more I get them to do, the more I have to mark. Being a diligent n passionate teacher, I give of all my love n strength to teach and guide my children under my care.

As a result of working hard, I succumb to the flu virus. By Wednesday, 31st Jan 07, I was feeling so sick that I left school early after Contact Time. That day, I reached home at around 4pm. Took my bath and had a nap while my baby niece played with my parents who babysit her. I thought I would feel better after resting. Sad to say, I felt worse with a low-grade fever, stuffy nose and bad sore throat. Thus, I went to visit the doctor at TJ Medical Clinic after my dinner. I consulted the female doctor who was on duty for that night at 7.40pm. The doctor diagnoised that I had low-grade fever, flu and sore throat. She prescribed some medicine for me and issued a 1-day MC for me. The medicine consisted of anti-biotics, flu tablets, panadols, cough mixture and a cream for my enzemic hands. The consultation and prescription at the private clinic cost me a total of $35. I didn't care about the cost, I wanted to get well soon to go back to teach my dear children.

I rested the whole day on Thursday, 1st Feb 07. Well, being a workaholic, I did not rest in bed only. I did the MT allocation/ deallocation for cockpit matters for my school via intranet using my VPN token. I edited papers and did some marking in between my rest time. Nonetheless, being sick, I made effort to take my medicine and rest more to get well soon.

It was quite a torture being sick as I cannot play with my baby niece, Keziah who is almost 10 months old. She keeps coming to me despite me telling her that I am sick. I am afraid of spreading the virus to her. Heehee... but it sure is heartening to have my baby niece to 'sayang' me by touching my legs. :-) See how cute she is. Haha, she definitely brightens my day. I wanted to get well soon to play with her too.

On Friday morning, I felt better. Hence, I decided to report to school for work. Aiyoh! First thing in the morning, I had to start running around to set up the AV sound and projector systems in the hall for Assembly purpose. I was informed in the morning that my colleagues will need the laptop and projector for the presentation on Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I was still having my stuffy nose and rather weak after fighting against the flu virus. Sighz.. what to do... since I am on AV duty for Week 5 and 6. Fortunately, I have a nice colleague, Raymond Wong who is good at handling AV matters to help out. If not, I think I might have collapsed having to run up and down from stage (2nd level) to control room (3rd level) since I cannot breathe well with a stuffy nose.

Next, my pupils were arguing about one hitting the other with a book. The other complained that the girl made rude remarks first. In frustration, I told them off and instructed them to apologise to each other since both did the wrong act.

While I went to lock the AV cupboard and ensure AV stuff are kept after Assembly, my class lacked self-discipline. They were noisy. My voice was too hoarse for me to shout at them. I could hardly breathe well. Thus, I asked my monitress, Jing Jing to amplify my words to them. Thank God I have a capable monitress. She helped me to get them into twos and line up to walk back to class. I reprimanded them in my soft, weak and sickly voice for being so ill-disciplined and ungrateful. I am so nice to them, yet they do not show that they are nice to me at all. Sighz...: -(

After all the disciplining, I was only left with 5 minutes for that English period. Thus, I instructed them to get themselves ready by looking at my planned 'TO DO LIST' written on the right hand side of the whiteboard. I always inform them of what is ahead for the day to get them ready and hopefully to have them on task all the time. This method of 'TO DO LIST' was something that I learnt from this book 'TIPS FOR SUCCESS' that I read to my class once a week to guide them to plan for successful and effective learning.

Next, I went to 5D for Social Studies lessons. I did concept map and notes on the whiteboard with the pupils regarding the election process. I also drew a time-line of the different years of election. Nevertheless, there were a few pupils who were inattentive and did not take notes as instructed. I had to raise my voice to get their attention. Sighz... bad for my poor throat, but I was really angry then. After note-taking, I instructed the children to work on drawing up posters and tag lines for campaigning for their friends to get others to vote for them to be in a certain role. Generally, the children were well-behaved.

Well, the trigger to worsening my sore throat and hence developing a cough was what happened at around 12.30pm. I was maximising my time with my pupils to teach them as I was left with 2 things to do for the day:
1. Maths corrections for Chpt 2 Practice 3 Estimation and Practice 4 Factors,
2. English Process Writing - T1/PW3 'The Shark Attack' - Pre-writing activity=> 6Ws + Personal Narrative Organizer to brainstorm and sequence ideas for the story based on pictures given.

Just at that moment, a knock on my classroom door was heard. I saw Axxx. I told him to wait for me to finish my instructions to the class regarding the corrections to be done. I went to the doorstep and asked him, "What is the matter?" He told me that his mother wants to see 2 of my boys, Sxxxxx & Jxxxxx at that moment. I was shocked, "What do you mean by your mother wants to see the boys? What is the purpose? What happened?" Being still ill, I had low tolerance and get rather impatient more easily. I told Axxx that no such thing as your mother see the boys. I asked him for more details and found out that 2 of my boys had taken his file to hide on Thursday and later his file went missing. I asked Axxx if he had informed his form teacher about the matter. To my surprise, he did not. How terrible! Without first informing the teachers, he wants to get his mother to come and confront the boys as and when he likes. This is not in line with school discipline procedures. I told him to tell his mother not to come and I will bring him, together with my 2 boys to go his classroom to see his form teacher and we, the teachers will interrogate all 3 boys to find out the truth of the matter.

Unfortunately, the moment I called my 2 boys out of the classroom, Axxx was signalling his mother across the parade square to come over to my classroom that is on the ground floor, next to the 'Underwater World' mural. I was stunned. What irks me most was that his mother walked over WITHOUT A VISITOR PASS from the security guard!!! Why is this always happening to me in this school???

In my barely audible and hoarse voice, I advised her to wait at the General Office since she is not wearing the VISITOR PASS. I informed her that I was on MC on the day of the incident and knew nothing about the matter. Thus, I told Axxx's mother to give me time to first inform Axxx's form teacher regarding the missing file incident and together, we will find out the truth of the matter. She agreed and walked reluctantly to the General Office to wait there.

In order not to have my class wasting time doing nothing there, I instructed my monitress, Jing Jing to write the answers for Maths corrections on the whiteboard. I passed my set of Maths solutions to Jing Jing to write on the whiteboard for the rest to copy as corrections, while I instructed Yang Han, my class monitor to ensure that everyone behaved and do their corrections as required.

Meanwhile, I proceeded to bring the 3 boys to Axxx's class. I knocked on the classroom door and asked his form teacher out to inform her of what her pupil did (brought his mother to my class to confront my 2 boys) and what had happened to his file the day before. His form teacher was so shocked to find out what he did as she was only informed by the General Office staff that Arun's mother was here to see him. He did not tell her about bringing his mother to my class for confrontation. She reprimanded him on the spot. Next, we interrogated the 3 boys about who did what. From the brief interrogation, I found out that Sxxxx was the mastermind of mischief. He took Axxx's file at first to hide behind the hall before House Practice. Later, he went off to play with his friends. Upon return to the hall, the file went missing. He had no idea where the file was when Axxx questioned him. In a way, I think my boy, Sxxxx was terrified of Axxx going after him for his missing file. Since the boys still could not explain themselves clearly and I was anxious to return to my class quickly to teach them, I informed his form teacher that I would bring the 3 boys to the Principal or Vice-Principal to settle the matter and execute disciplinary actions.

Sadly, both P n VP were out for a meeting. It was 12.50pm. To my horror, Axxx's mother was standing there. I saw her eyes glaring at my boys and me when she realised my presence. Sighz... I didn't want to talk so much... but was forced to speak to her in my terribly hoarse voice. The office staff were no help at all, sitting there as quiet as a mouse. In my despair, I humbled myself to apologise to her for my boy, Sxxx's mischief that caused her son to lose his file that contained important stuff like 'In Touch' and 'Spelling List', etc. I asked her to forgive the boy and that proper discipline action will be taken as I will be referring the case to the P, VP and DM. To my disgust, she kept ranting on and on about her son's loss and everything else... and I kept coughing due to my irritated throat after talking to her... could not breathe well. Finally, I told her to excuse me as I needed to return to my class to teach. Then, she ended with giving me her number to get back to her on this issue. Sighz... wasted my class time.

I sent the boys back to class. I sent Axxx personally back to his class and with his form teacher's permission, I warned the whole class to show respect for the order of school procedures and not do as Axxx did. For what he did to bring his mother to my class to confront my boys, it is absolutely unreasonable and total disregard for school discipline procedures. I pointed out that whether they are in the right or wrong, it gives them no right to bring their parents in to confront other students. It is wrong. I emphasised that if there should be any problems, they should first inform and consult their teachers, not take things into their own hands like gangsters or secret society members. After going through teachers, then the problem will be directed up to the Discipline Master and finally to the Vice-principal and Principal. Axxx's form teacher agreed and supported what I pointed out to her class. In addition, she instructed Axxx to apologise to me for agitating me in my poor state of health. Frankly, I was very worked up and upset that 30 minutes of my class time was lost as a result of such nonsense discipline problems.

In the end, I could only give out the necessary writing notes to my students and get them to note their homework in their Kidz' Organisers. Sighz... I thought I could do the brainstorming with them... ended up not being able to do so. :-( SAD!

To find out the truth of the matter, I detained Sxxx and Jxxx in the classroom to write their accounts of the mischief case. Moreover, they are often late in handing in work. Therefore, I demanded that they stay behind to complete their process writing 6Ws + Personal Narrative Organiser before going home.

I was very busy. While the boys wrote their accounts of misdeeds in the classroom, I went to settle money matters with the office staff. I didn't have time to eat my lunch and medicine yet. Shxxxxxs mother, Hxxxx wanted to meet me to discuss about her concerns for him and how to help him better. I met her in the classroom and discussed from 2 to 3+pm. It was a good talk to find out more about Shxxxx. I am glad that his mother is so concerned for him unlike some other parents who cannot be bothered about their children, being busy at work.

As I wanted to have my lunch and medicine, I called for Arfah, the Teacher Aide to come and babysit my 2 boys. I requested that she ensures that they complete the task I have assigned by following my steps that I had written on the whiteboard for them.
Thus, I ate my lunch at 3.30pm in the Staff Lounge with my other colleagues. While I ate my home-cooked vegetables soup and rice, I salivated as I watched the others eat KFC chicken, mashed potatoes and salad... so tempting.
By the time I finished lunch, it was 4pm. I decided to pack up and check on the boys before going home. I checked on the boys and found that they skipped steps. The T.A. was not strict enough with them afterall. Sighzz... I hope she can be more firm and be stricter with them.
Anyway, I told the boys to go home and do a proper one again using the notes I gave them. I asked the boys to leave before I packed some books back for marking over the weekend.

I went home in a taxi. As I was exhausted and very weak, I had to call my Dad to help me carry my trolley-load of books/ worksheets up 3 levels to reach my home. I was terribly tired by the time I reached home. I took my bath, had some soup and vegetables for dinner before popping my medicine. Not long after, I went to sleep at around 6.30pm. I was worn out after a long and traumatic day at school.

I kept coughing even in my sleep. I had to wake up a few times to sneeze out the yellow lumps of mucus that were blocking my nose. I could not breathe well during sleep due to my bad flu bout. I felt hot and cold simultaneously. Horrible feeling. Sneezed till my nose almost seem to feel like dropping off. I think I really look like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer after all my sneezing.

The next morning, both my Dad and Mum were so worried for me as I looked ghastly with a stuffy nose and continuous breathless coughing. My Mum accompanied me to the doctor after I sent a long e-mail to my superiors regarding the traumatic incident that happened to me on Friday. I asked for help for the discipline and security problem.

My Mum and I went to the Geylang Polyclinic to get queue numbers before going for our breakfast at the Aljunied market. I had peanut porridge while my Mum had lor mee. I also bought a cup of hot soya bean. Hard to articulate my order as my voice was barely audible... very hoarse.

When we returned to the polyclinic, it was still a long wait. Being a workaholic, I brought my pupils' Science Chpt 1 WS to mark there while waiting. Soon, we received another number to see Dr Agnes Khoong. Sighz... it was another long wait upstairs. I listened to my music on my handphone and sms my friends while my Mum hurriedly went to the market to do some marketing. After my Mum came back to wait with me, it was some time before our turn came. My Mum consulted the doctor regarding her high blood pressure, before it was my turn to consult the doctor. Dr Khoong saw that I was sneezing and coughing badly. Nevertheless, she told me I am coming to the end of the flu cycle. She prescribed medicine to clear my nose congestion, stronger cough mixture and some lozenges to ease my throat irritation. Well, she asked if I needed MC. I replied, "No, not for today. How about giving MC for Monday? I wonder if I will be well by Monday." The doctor assured me that I will recover soon if I rest well and take my medicine. However, if I am still unwell, then I will have to make another trip down to get MC for Monday itself. Sighz... don't think I will do that... waste of time waiting at Polyclinic to see doctor. Praying hard to God that I will recover soon from this bout of flu and cough.

Upon reflection, I think it is God's plan for me to suffer physical pains of illness like Job to grow up stronger than before. Experience builds up a person. Constant reminder to lean upon God for strength and trust in His providence. God will show the way! He will help me to recover quickly and get back to teaching my children with passion and LOVE for them. I BELIEVE! I hope to help my children to be their best in manners, attitude and work.

3:51 am;