Working Together

Today I am heading to school to hand out Chromebooks to the families that don't have a device. I'll do the same thing tomorrow. And after that, I'll help hand out nearly a thousand meal packs to families. 
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Yesterday, I saw that two of my students had left some pretty work-specific questions in the Google Classroom. I called up the assignment each one was referencing and then got them on the phone, one at a time. M needed help with her math. It took 30 minutes to work through the problems with her, but it felt so good to actually be teaching!

The math lesson.

E needed help with his science. I had assigned a game on BrainPop, and he wasn't sure how to do a drawing with Google Draw. He's pretty tech savvy, as a lot of kids are, so I told him to click this, click that, insert here, and save. Again, it was so refreshing to talk to a kid and "hear" the lightbulb click on. I usually get to see it on their faces.

Speaking of which, our district has disabled the camera on the Chromebooks for safety and legal reasons. So even if I do hold a class meeting on Zoom, the kids won't be able to see each other. That's probably a good thing. 

The science lesson.

I also ran some much needed errands yesterday. I hadn't been to the grocery store in at least two weeks, and neither had my mother-in-law. I let her know I was heading to Albertsons, so she sent me a list. When I dropped her groceries off, I set everything on her counter, and then we went outside.

She leaned against their truck, and I leaned against mine. We had a nice long chat. She's been cooped up with my father-in-law far too long and needed to see someone else's face! Normally, we would have hugged on arrival and departure, but with the current situation, we just waved. My in-laws are in their seventies; they have reason to be wary of social interactions, even from family. 

Ranch owner's load.

I go the feed store once a month. Yesterday was also that day. The ranch owner's husband has some health issues, so he's definitely sheltering in place. She does all of the errands, but he worries about her coming into contact with someone who is sick. Knowing that, I texted her and asked if she needed anything. Of course she needed something; when don't we? So I filled her order and mine. 

My part 1 of 2.

This shelter in place recommendation is going to be in place for a while longer. I think it's really important to remember that there are friends, family, and neighbors who going to feel isolated, left out, maybe even forgotten. For those of us that are healthy and at a low risk of getting seriously ill, I think it's our duty to do what we can for those who can't.

Reach out to someone today. Maybe they just need a phone call.