Hi,
I just need to vent a bit. I’m part of a small after-school program where students attend a 50-minute English lesson once a week. Recently, there was an incident that really threw me off. One of my students unexpectedly vomited on the floor while standing. The way the student was positioned and the fact that they were standing caused quite a large splatter. It was a substantial amount of vomit, and the smell and mess made it nearly impossible to continue teaching.
As the assistants came in to clean up, they were speaking to the student in Japanese, which added to the chaos and distracted the other students. My initial thought was to relocate the students outside the classroom, where we have chairs, so we could at least have story time in a more comfortable environment outside the classroom. We only had 10 minutes left of class. However, I was unsure how to proceed because even the props we were using had been contaminated. Teaching in such conditions or trying to keep the students engaged with so many distractions was out of the question.
I attempted to ask the assistants if I could move the students outside, but I didn’t receive a response. Consequently, we ended up standing in the classroom for 7 more minutes before I decided to let the students out early and explain the situation to their parents.
Later, we had a meeting to discuss the incident. During the meeting, I inquired about the steps to take if something like this were to happen again. My manager’s response was that I should continue the lesson in a clean area. I felt quite neglected in this regard, as I find this unsanitary. If the student had the Norovirus, which is airborne, I wouldn’t want to risk getting sick myself or having the other students fall ill. It’s important to note that missing lessons means I don’t get paid for them and the class rooms are small. Given all this, I’m starting to feel undervalued and I’m contemplating exploring new career options.
by MissSlacker0824