Clusterf@#! How do your 1st graders signal teacher?

This afternoon's meeting has to be rescheduled because our nurse is out sick and I prefer to wait for her return. She and I had chatted about the approach for this meeting and she mentioned that she had already spoken to DD's teacher and the student teacher, but she thought it would be helpful for all of us be in the same room, confirm that we are all on the same page, and reassure DD as well.

Our nurse is open to whatever signal DD wants to use -- her main concern is that DD be safe -- so she wants it to be something that differentiates DD from other kids raising their hand, etc.

The suggestions here have been really helpful. DD has waffled back and forth a bit. Right now she wants to have a card that says "nurse" at her desk, but use the "L" signal in gym class, on the playground, or when she might be in a different classroom, and not have the card with her. I'd just as soon forget about the card -- but I also don't see why she can't do both. I'm planning on her having that "L" be something she can signal to me for other times, as well.

Thanks all!

 

I think whatever makes your daughter the most comfortable is the best idea. My boys up until this year have been allowed to leave class anytime they are feeling bad to go see the Nurse. Normally they just have to let the teacher know where they are going. This year my oldest son, who loves the school nurse, has been required to call her from his classroom over video chat instead of going to her office. This is mainly because he will say he is feeing bad even when he isn't just to go see her. I am always notified if someone other than their regular teacher or Nurse is going to be there for the day and I let the boys know so they are prepared. I say this because if there is ever someone new in the classroom you will need to ensure they have been made aware of the signal as well. Hopefully, you get it all worked.

 

Are you thinking she had too many carbs? Because it sounds like a rebound to me....When I want Seth to test and I can't really talk to him. I tap my forearm with my finger. Maybe she could tap two fingers together to signal? My son's teachers just tell him to test without asking if he needs to. :cwds:

 

Someone on this board has a D kid in band and has a hand signal when low. I don't remember what it was but it sounded like a great idea. I like the L sign idea. So useful when you're kid wants a little discretion--like at the spring concert, which is tonight. I think I'll tell dd that is she feels low she should signal me. I've told her before that if she is low in chorus she should just walk off the bleachers but I imagine she would be reluctant to do so. A signal would be great.

 

Yes, I know it's really tacky to bump one's own post but I wanted to add that we liked this because it couldn't easily be confused with just a regular raised hand and though she didn't often have to do it, it worked well when she did.

 

Glad you have a great nurse.
Sorry that happened to your daughter. Hmm... maybe ~K should rub off on her a bit -- she'd have probably shouted, "I'm feeling shaky can you do something about it??!!!" Yep, not a shy one.

No, seriously, I hope something works out for her that she doesn't feel the need to second guess her actions.

 

She had 31 uncovered carbs. (I know half the milk was bolused, but that bolus would not have kicked in yet at the time she was tested.) Each carb raises her 10 points, so it looks like too many carbs to me, as opposed to a rebound. :cwds:

 

I'm not sure what to think -- I do wonder if there was a bit of a rebound going on given the 69, then seemingly rapid rise to over 300 about a half hour later. She had the bolus at the half-way point of that rise and stayed high (as near as we can tell, she's not on CGM), but she also doesn't usually drink the sugary chocolate milk (we use the 13 g. for 8 oz. stuff).

@Sarah Maddie's Mom-I liked this one best too, for the same reason.

@Ivy-"I'm feeling shaky can you do something about it??!!!" Love it!

 

With a bolus that late and the relatively quick acting nature of the carbs, that's exactly how my kid's numbers would look, for what it's worth. I don't think there was a rebound.

 

@hawkeyegirl-That makes sense. I wasn't sure how quickly the sugary milk would raise her BG.

@momtojess-she is capable of testing herself, but not reliably acting based on the number. She does not currently test in the classroom; the nurse keeps her PDM in the nurse's office and returns it to her at the end of the day. Ironically, this happened at the end of the day and DD had her PDM; she told me that she didn't feel that she could test herself. She must have been feeling really bad.

As I said, in addition to addressing the signal issues, I'll probably put a small spare meter in her bag.

We'll see where she is after the summer in terms of next year's plan.

 

We had the meeting at school this morning -- it had gotten postponed because our nurse has been out ill. The principal, nurse, teacher, student teacher, DD and me were there.

DD decided that in her main classroom she wants to use a card that says "nurse" and has a red cross on it -- it's laminated (which is probably why she likes it so much:cwds and at DD's request, the nurse taped it to a tongue depressor. However, in other classes she'll have the "L" hand-signal, which is the one DD really latched on to. Thank you all for the suggestions!

We also reiterated that in addition to visual signals, she can alway walk up to the teacher, raise her hand, call out/shout out (I could see that hearing her teacher say that DD could "yell' if she needed help was something DD needed to hear), ask a friend to help her, etc.

Of course, in January, I was concerned about my "frequent flyer" who was abusing her "get out of class free" card (getting tested within 20 minutes of eating lunch, etc.) to avoid the classroom!

The student teacher was quiet, but I think others had already spoken to her.

Anyway, we still adore our nurse and are happy with the school's handling of this.

 

Your daughter has to know first and foremost that's it's ok to handle the low at any given situation. No punishment or card flipping will occur. Whether she's with the music teacher, gym teacher, out at recess, in class, or at lunch. There has to be one signal, and that's I'm low. These adults need to know that she's in no situation to answer a question first, finish an assignment before hand, or any other excuse they come up with. She's low, and a low is an urgent situation that can't wait.

You need to discuss with how you and your daughter want to handle it, and then you need to reassure your daughter that you had a meeting and everyone knows this is how she's going to handle it going forward.

I advised our school that my daughter would inform them when she's low at any given moment in time, and she's to immediately handle it. I don't care if it's a buddy system to the nurse, a buddy to the office, in the classroom, at the teachers desk, it was the same procedure every time. Under no circumstances is she to be punished. IF for some reason down the road your daughter abuses her privileges tell them you'll discuss it after it happens.
My daughter was dxd in kindergarten, and this has worked for us for the last 4 years. An email is sent out to all her teachers (lunch staff included) from either the school nurse or principal, with her picture, explaining she's a Type1 diabetic, how she'll advise them of a low, and how it will be handled. It was my choice to let them all know she has this disease with this email, but I feel it protects her better.
Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

Right, perhaps you didn't see my most recent post. That's what we did.