The apology I emailed to my students says it all:
Hi Everyone,
So first of all, sorry that you had to witness the breakdown of my vocal chords in class today. I'm sure we can all agree that that was kind of unexpected. In case you're wondering (some of you did look a little worried), I'm not seriously ill in any way. The bad part of this cold passed a week or so ago. My recovering throat was just agitated to the point that it became difficult to speak. I'll make sure to bring some water to our next class, at which my throat should be back up dispensing writing advice, rather than broken raspy speech.
Thanks so much for understanding.
For now, enjoy the free time and your much envied ability to use your voice.
Best,
Kevin
p.s. You should know that I resisted the temptation to place throat-clearing "ahems" throughout this email.
A colleague (Dubs) helped me feel less embarrassed about it when he said "It could have been worse. At least you didn't vomit phlegm all over them"
2 comments:
I actually had a calc professor who interrupted class to stand in the corner and vomit into a wastepaper bin. When she was done, she turned back to the chalkboard and tried to continue her solution. But moments later, after she paid a second visit to the wastepaper bin, she decided to cut the lesson short. By that point I was grateful for her decision - I'm sure your students were for yours, too. :)
Although I'm sure a lot of them were excited to have class dismissed early, some of them were probably impressed that you tried to carry on teaching. It was weird, but I'll always remember the dedication of one of my high school teachers who taught two classes while lying on a table at the front of the room because he'd thrown his back out.
And Jen, that is totally disgusting. And awesome.
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