It's Friday!

I am still teaching remotely. It was definitely a real struggle in the beginning, but there are things about it that I have grown to love. I can run a load of laundry, get an early start on dinner, and I get to skip the 30 minute commute to work. I work longer hours, but they're more comfortable hours - I am in yoga pants. I do miss a few things though like interacting face to face with people and standing up. If things go according to plan, my students and I will report back to school on March 18th. My last day with students was March 17, 2020. Our return will be a full year and a day later.

While there are a few things I like about being able to work from home, overall, the experience has been daunting. Most of the country is screaming for the heads of teachers; I can't count the number of times that I have heard that I should be fired for "refusing to go to work." I know that there are teachers' unions around the country who are making certain demands before teachers venture onto school campuses, but that isn't us. Instead, we have dug deep to meet the demands of our kiddos. 

Teacher or air traffic controller?

While I've always considered myself pretty tech-savvy, I had to instantly acquire a whole new set of skills in order to meet the educational and emotional needs of my students. They've cried, I've cried, but we've survived. Quarterly assessments have shown that my kiddos are not just meeting expectations, but in many cases, exceeding them. Through it all, I had to learn how to run Canvas, Jamboards, Zoom and Google Meet, a brand new science program, AND a brand new history program, both of which have digital platforms. It's been tough. I frequently work ten hour days (and sometimes longer), so when I hear that I ought to be fired for "refusing to go back to work," something I have zero control of, it's pretty demoralizing.​

I do have a few kiddos who don't come to class. Ever. They're the ones in red and yellow.

On Thursday morning, as I checked my email while waiting for my tea to steep, a student message popped up. They email me at all hours of the day, and I make it a priority to respond immediately. I opened it up to read this:

Not important?

Of course it was important. Anything they send me is important. When they take the time to compose an email, it's because they're worried, sad, frustrated, concerned, happy, or just need to connect with someone outside of their home's four walls. I opened the Jamboard link, and my heart melted.

And that's why I do this job.