How Soon is Now?

How can you say I go about things the wrong way? I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does. 

Isn't that what it's all really about anyway?

The last 2 weeks have felt like I'm a teacher in a dystopian novel with Morrissey playing on repeat in the background. I wonder if I wait long enough if David Bowie will show-up at my front door in a space ship. 

It's surreal to be sitting on my front porch talking with 25 kids that are isolated in 25 different homes, but I did it with cat ears on.

Today our class was able to do a virtual class meeting for the first time and it wasn't perfect, not even close. Kids were talking over each other, everyone wanted to show us their pets and the toys in their rooms, but it was the best feeling I've had since the pandemic schooling has started. I think that comes from the fact that it was a perfectly normal, abnormal situation. The kids were smiling and excited to be on screen. It made me smile, laugh, beam with pride, and when we were done it made me cry. I miss all those quirky and silly 10/11-year-old kids with my whole heart and I know that anyone who truly loves teaching like I do has the same feeling. 

My co-teacher and I also held individual video check-ins with kids and really got to see that all they were looking for was love and assurance that we were going to continue to check-in. One asked if she had to worry about GMAS and MAP, I told her that the only things we need to focus on right now are staying healthy and enjoying this new adventure as it unfolds. Another kid asked if we will still be giving them tests, I answered honestly and said - I don't know. 

Do I need to know how the kids are performing in their academic areas during a global pandemic? The short answer is - not really. I already know how well most of my kids grasp and understand the material that is being presented and I can ask them to show me on a video call through a conversation. A test, or as some like to say summative, is the last thing these kids need and I think that the cancellation of all the standardized tests should tell us that. 

So teachers, my biggest fear about this whole situation is that we will go right back to the status quo. This is our chance to really effect change in a big way. Do you want to give a test? Do it, but can you do it in a different way? 

All I know is that my day felt a whole lot more productive when I got to talk to kids and see how they are really doing with the work that I'm assigning. 

Now whether my duties as a pandemic school at home mom were successful......You tell me? 

In the End....

it doesn't even matter.

I've been in my house for many days and at this point, it's hard to remember the last time everyone showered, let alone who did what on their E-Learning assignments, and it doesn't even matter.

I've been watching social media craziness happen and some people really need to chill out. We are all in the same boat. Our kids will learn those standards or they won't, but it's not going to be the end of the world unless we fall apart and attack each other.

I've also noticed that there is no winning in this situation. Some people want more to do, some want less, some kids are working, and some are not. Everyone is learning on the fly and some of us are better than others, but that doesn't mean that people are willfully trying to deprive students of materials or stress parents out. One thing I have realized while working with my own kid, he is REALLY good at pretending like he has never used Google Classroom or any other platform his teacher has been using ALL year. Come on kid....it's not going to work for you, but I'm also not going to fight with you about it.

My biggest concern for the kids that I can't see every day at this point is that they are healthy and happy. It's killing me to not see those faces every day, and I hope that each of them knows how much. I miss Room 327 and all 25 kids that make that community possible, but we are doing what we can. Please have grace with teachers and parents. We need each other after this is over to rebuild what has been broken down by something that we cannot control. In the end, if we don't have each other when this is over we will have NOTHING!

As we sit at home on what feels like day 999 of 'social distancing', lots of things are coming into focus and some are still really blurry. Parents are schooling at home, teachers are E-instructors and kids.......it doesn't even matter!

What will they remember when this is all over? That depends on us.

The adults have all the power in this situation.

I hope my kid is going to remember:

😀No Screen Time Limits.

😀 Multiple family game nights.

😀Party pizzas for dinner more than once in a week.

😀Taking care of the neighbor's cat.

😀Bedtime didn't really exist.

😀Mom made him read.......A LOT!

😀Checking on our family and friends who are alone and vulnerable.

😀2 Words - Movie Marathons

😀Jokes about toilet paper

😀He is loved more than anything in this world.

If I can accomplish that list then this situation has been a blessing. I know it is awful to have to be stuck at home when people are so used to being busy, but in the end, does it really matter if you had to stay home because you were trying to save someone else's life?

Who have you checked on today?

Ironic?!?!

Isn't it ironic how spring is popping up all around us and we should be excited to be out and about, but yet we are stuck inside (or we should be)?

It seems like the weather is finally giving us some super nice days and yet we can't go to the park to enjoy that weather with friends. We are struggling to make sense of the world and all that is happening with COVID-19.

It has gotten to the point at our house that we were talking about deleting the useless sports apps on our phones because it is too sad to see them without any new scores. The only updates we get are related to Tom Brady and who really cares about that?

There are some things that haven't changed. I still need my caffeine fix. Diet Coke has been working really well for me, so I'll stick with that. However, I definitely have a lot more places to lose my drink in the house and not nearly as many eyes to look for it. I am missing my kiddos like crazy!

Today has been an interesting day around here. I've had a few discussions with my introverted friends who are all feeling like a little human contact would be great and conversely, I've spoken with several extroverted friends that are thriving and enjoying the slowdown, time at home with family. The world seems to be upside down.

I know it is definitely upside down at my house. Pandemic teaching entered Day 4 today and we finally got into a rhythm. Or at least I didn't feel as stressed out.

I learned from one of my students that Brad Pitt is the cause of the Coronavirus pandemic and that Donald Trump looks stupid when he talks about the virus. These are all important 'facts' to remember when dealing with the pandemic. Yes, the students say these are well-known facts.

The day started off with me filing a hostile work environment claim with my supervisor. My coworker would do nothing but shoot nerf guns and watch YouTube. Luckily, Mr. Prophet was here to deal with my coworker's failure to follow company protocols.

Once we got down to the business of learning, we inquired into gravity as well as force and motion, also known as stacking up bottles and cans to hit them as hard as we can with a stick. I called it science. You may call it destruction. Whatever it's called, we worked on it for a long time.

We also spent some time learning how to sweep off the back porch. I thought this task would be easy and not require much instruction. Clearly, I was wrong.

I tried working outside, but the pollen and the trees felt like I needed to be pollinated so that only lasted a few minutes.

We finally decided to work on some art and games. This was the most peaceful part of my day.

Thankfully, this is a period of trial and error and that everyone is having a similar adventure. No matter what happens, we are all doing our best. Our kids are going to be ok because we took the warnings seriously. No one is failing any kids unless we choose to ignore them in this crisis. Talk with the little people in your life. They will make you laugh and they will keep you sane (even if the school at home makes you crazy).

Now, where did I put my Diet Coke?

Nothing Breaks Like a Heart

I was working during my office hours today and the following lyrics really hit me like a ton of bricks! - "This world can hurt you, it cuts you deep, and leaves a scar."

I am heartbroken that we didn't really get to say goodbye to the kids as they walked out of the classroom last Thursday. We all said - see you tomorrow, like we always do, but that isn't really accurate at all. I sent a little survey out to my kids and they are all sad and feel disconnected. It's amazing in this time of digital connections and social media that we still feel cut off from each other when we can't physically be together. That says a lot about the need for humans to interact!

I'm also heartbroken for all those kids who aren't getting to do that lasts and firsts. So many kids that don't get to have graduation ceremonies, proms, birthday parties, moving up celebrations, it's all too much. Again, human interaction and celebrations are being eliminated to protect us from a virus that we still don't understand.

I'm heartbroken that I can't get to my mom! She is stuck alone at home in the house that she and dad shared for many years. The good thing is that dad was always a planner and she has plenty of toilet paper.

I'm heartbroken that my honeymoon with school at home is OVER!

The quote for today was "I'm not doing any of that stupid work!" So, that took all of one day.

Is it normal to need a brain break after every 2 minutes of work? Pretty sure that's a no!

Our nature walk consisted of trying to figure out if this is a wig or a dead animal. What do you think?

The soccer ball has gone over the fence in all directions at least 4 times in the last 2 days.

And we debated the decrease in gas prices. That counts as math, right?

I'm heartbroken that I can't get any of my needed alone time. As I've said before, sitting at home and reading a book is one of my favorite activities, but not everyone is introverted like me and being in the house together for 6 days is really hard. The space is not big enough to find a place for all of us to get that necessary alone time. At least I can still go for a walk!

I may as well call this blog New Adventures in Pandemic Schooling!

Time is on My Side

Yes, it is!

We are officially about an hour into our school at home adventure. (I say that it is a school at home for a variety of reasons that I'll post about some other time).

Anyway, we have learned a couple of things today. The biggest one is that time doesn't really matter. We have a 'schedule', however, it's not as important as it is when dealing with a big group of kids.

My 3rd grader woke up late and we forgot to schedule a time to go feed the neighbor's cats, and it doesn't matter!! I could get used to this. I'm not saying that we are tossing the schedule out the window, but I think it is important to have grace with yourself and your child in this crazy time.

We are so used to being overscheduled and overstimulated that it is hard to know what to do when that isn't happening in your life. I am really all for the embracing of this new period of E-Learning and the knowledge that can come from it. As a teacher, I've always been a learner and for me, this is just an opportunity to learn more about myself, my family, and my class.

I hope that everyone takes this time to embrace the fact that our world is hurting and we need to support and love each other now more than ever. One way we are doing this at my house is by writing letters and emails to people who are alone during this time. We have found that many people have zero contact with their families because they are living in nursing homes, at the hospital, or just live alone. This is an easy way to help keep people connected and not to forget about all of our neighbors.

Love to everyone!

It's the End of the World as We Know It

and I feel fine...

Well, maybe or maybe not. I'm not sick or feeling sick, but it is tough to have 2 working parents at home who are attempting to do E-School.

We have officially been in the house together as a family for 4 full days and so far we have spent many hours watching "Don't Make Me Laugh" on YouTube and "How to Solve a 2 by 2 Rubik Cube" (also, YouTube). While these activities may be fun for the 8-year old, the parents are so OVER the YouTube videos. This is also a time to mention that we only have one TV in our house, so if YouTube videos are on, nothing else can be watched.

We are a huge sports family so not having sports to watch has really been tough on all of us.

So what do we do now?

Well, we tried to go to the basketball court hoping that no one would be there, but apparently, social distancing is a concept we don't really understand because there were probably 20-30 kids there.

So, home we go.

We set up an obstacle course in the backyard, and then it started raining.

We went for a walk around the neighborhood, but again, it started raining. Good thing we aren't made of sugar.

We pulled out some games. That was fun until the wrong person won and in our house, that's usually the dad.

So, I'm back to YouTube or jumping into E-Learning, even though it's a 'teacher work-day'.

All joking aside, it's been a great experience today for me to see how my kiddo does while engaged on a computer. He did a great job on computer-based practice and we did lots of reading.

The key to all of this is to be flexible. When working with a kid one-on-one, some of them need a specific schedule and some can be more flexible. We will be starting our official schedule tomorrow because Mama and Daddy have to work!