2nd ER visit; Block G

For the past weekend, Geoff and I had originally planned on spending Sunday at a beautiful semi-private beach as per an invitation from my principal, but in the end, the plan was thwarted because I came down with an unexpected stomach pain on Saturday night. The sharp pain was coming in waves and had persisted for several hours when I finally decided to wake Geoff and ask him to drive me to the hospital, to make sure it was not appendicitis. Thank goodness, it was not. The ER people hooked me up to an IV (because at this point I was already dehydrated from all the bathroom runs) and took a blood and -- this is fun -- a poop sample. I stayed there for a couple of hours while they ran the tests on those charming samples, and it turns out that I have a stomach infection. I can't say that I'm surprised, really, considering that I do live in a third-world country. But still, it ain't nice...

I went home feeling really weak, and they gave me prescription for painkillers, antibiotics, and anti-diarrhea drugs. I ended up sleeping through Sunday to combat the onset cold from all of the exhaustion. And, miraculously, I felt good enough to teach on Monday. :)

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I'm frustrated with my Block G. Despite the fact that it is a tough class, and there are 7 ADHD kids in there (5 of them severely symptomatic), I keep wondering if there are things that I could do to make them calmer than they are. Regardless of conversations I've already had with them or consequences I have already assigned, it is a struggle for me each day to get through basic discussions of math problems because their energy levels are off the charts (and their focus non-existent, when it comes to conceptual discussions that matter). And it's frustrating not just to me, but also to the few students in the class who actually wish to learn and to hear the lessons, uninterrupted by ADHD kids shouting out random comments. I'm frustrated and I don't know what else I haven't already tried, except to be consistent and assign consequences each time they breach my expectations.

I have hope that they will change. For the better, for their own sake, and soon. But again, I'm not sure if that's optimism or delusion.