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?
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