Life Changing Events and WBT

The last week and a half has been a whirlwind for me.  I just wanted everyone to know on Wednesday, April 10, my 7 year old went for one more bicycle trip down into our subdivision, and in an instant I could hear him from our yard.  When I got to him, he was laying to the side of the road in pain.  He had look down away from the road, and when he looked back was plowing in to a neighbors 'homemade' mailbox.  Needless to say, the mailbox won!  He could not get up and did not want to be touched.  I was horrified!  After an ambulance ride to the hospital, a wait in the ER, and x-rays, we learned he had broken his right tibia bone (the large bone in your lower leg).  It is never fun watching anyone be in pain, but when it is your own child, it is worse.  They kept him over night because he was unable to manage his pain.  He was suppose to get a cast after one week, but the Dr. said he would rather leave him in the splint for one more week.  He will go from the splint to cast above the knee then a walking, boot cast below the knee.  The good news for all of this is--Ean is very, very lucky.  He was not wearing a helmet and had on Croc shoes.  He didn't have a scratch on him outside of breaking his leg.  The mailbox has to be replaced.  He had to hit it pretty hard because the 4x4 post it was on was damaged.  We say many blessings on this day, and one of them was that he did not have any damage to his head or spine.  Funny thing is, the bike doesn't have a scratch on it either!  Ean will also have his cast off by the time we go to the beach.  He was really worried about not being able to get in the water.  

I have been out of school more than I have been in, and my heart has certainly not been with teaching.  I was honest with all of my classes, as I wanted them to know the importance of wearing good shoes and a helmet when riding any bike or scooter.  I also wanted them to know why I would be missing days in near future.  They all know Ean because he comes to my school just before our dismissal bell, and they like him.  They have been so kind and sweet--making him cards and signs and sending him little gifts.  

The whole accident altered my teaching and enthusiasm at school.  For the past several days, I have not been using WBT very well.  Honestly, I have been using Class/Yes and that is pretty much it.  The substitute did award stars for good behavior for my SIW class, but I have not been consistent with WBT since the accident.  What positive can I take from not using WBT, you ask?  Well, it reaffirms my action research.  Any day using some WBT is a better day than not using it at all.  I there will be days like this.  We teachers are human, right?  These last few days have allowed me to reflect back to teaching before I even knew what WBT was.  The more WBT strategies I use, the better teacher I am.  The class runs more smoothly when I use the Scoreboard, and the kids love it.  My sixth graders especially love WBTs 4Core, the 5 Classroom Rules,  It's Cool!, and Ten Finger Woos.  I have faith that it is OK to have 'not so good days' because I will pick up my speed and return once again to what I know best-Whole Brain Teaching.