Welcome back friends! I have decided to make a triumphant return to my blog. Between sicknesses, my personal life, my schedule, and other such things, I have had a prolonged absence from here. I am changing that, however. With the promise of spring on the way (40’s all week! Yes, I am calling that the promise of spring!) I am feeling a little more apt to productive behavior.
So the topic I want to tackle today is teaching while trying to conquer a cold. I’ve had multiple small ailments this winter. Between a sore throat for a few days, a few days of feeling overall rundown, and most recently a cold that knocked me on my tush, I’ve had to teach on more than one day of not being at my best.
As a teacher, you need to be present for your classes. There are times when you can go on auto-pilot- whether it’s the warm up that you’ve taught 8 of your same classes since the beginning of the season, or the mere act of running routines- but most often, your students will throw curve balls your way without you seeing them coming. When you have a compromised immune system, that can be difficult to deal with.
I was teaching a group of young ballerinas the other day. As I was calling out a combination, I began to have a coughing attack. Of course I had to walk away to grab my water and make sure that I could get the coughing out. I squeaked out as much as I could for them to keep going, but they all stopped what they were doing to stare at me having this minor attack and to ask if I was okay. Not to say that I don’t appreciate the concern of an 8 year old, however, knowing that I am fine and that it’s just a cough, I had hoped the students would continue on with the combination that they were doing.
Moments like that are difficult. There are always so many distractions in a class to begin with, particularly with the younger age levels. They like to look at themselves in the mirror, or giggle at their friends who are playing with their leotard, or the bass for the jazz class in the room next door is blaring, or the students in the lobby made a funny noise, or another teacher came in to ask a question, etc. The last thing that you want is to become another distraction for them. Even just a sneeze can become disruption enough to distract the students.
With the younger levels, I tend to try to ignore it. If I’m coughing, or my voice is cracking, I act like it didn’t happen. If the students acknowledge it, I make a minor comment, and then try to steer the class quickly back to what we were doing. If the students are older, most of the time there is a mutual laugh over it. “Oh, you’re sick? Haha, that’s okay. We all get sick and sound like this!” Majority of the time, the older students will realize it and move on.
The biggest problem isn’t the students. The biggest problem for me is the lack of energy from your body working overtime to get better. Personally, I’m usually a healthy woman. I don’t get sick often, even if I am tired a lot. This winter was difficult being sicker than usual. When I found myself in classes thinking “I really should be in bed right now,” I dug down deep and found ways to fix it.
I found that going into the studio with a clear cut plan for the class made it a lot easier. When I was following a step by step plan in my head and not letting distractions lead me away from it, the time went by faster. The students responded better, and they even looked better doing what they needed to. Usually, I have plans going in, but it’s more of a general plan in my head, rather than a moment by moment lesson. There were goals for the classes, and because I had to push myself through feeling terrible, I was more likely to stay on the task.
I don’t take cold medications going into class. I would rather be downing crazy amounts of water and coffee in class than take any kind of pill or liquid that would make me loopy. I tend to be affected really easily by any sort of medication, so even just taking one sinus cold pill will make me feel fuzzy. Having my head in a foggy place does not help. I would rather take some ibuprofen for any pain, and suffer through the minor situations. As long as I’m not in pain, or feeling nauseous, I usually feel clear headed enough to be on top of my teaching game.
Knowing your body is the most important part of teaching while sick. If you wake up in the morning, and you feel as though you won’t be able to get out of bed- don’t try to go into teach. A cold is something that you can deal with. A serious sickness like the flu or strep before you’ve been able to see a doctor is not something you should go into a dance studio with. Particularly since you are working with children, you don’t want to start spreading something that will make the children have to miss class. Colds, however, are easily dealt with when it comes to teaching. Even if it’s a struggle, as long as you’re using your hand sanitizer and washing your hands, the students will appreciate you showing up, your boss will appreciate you showing up, and I guarantee that even if you’re feeling tired and rundown, in the end you will appreciate yourself for showing up.
On that note, I hope everyone is taking their vitamins, eating right, and staying healthy out there!
Expect more blogs from me soon!
