I am not one of those people that feels that Covid-19 is a made-up thing or that it isn’t as serious as the media makes it out to be. I don’t think it is fair to say that because I know there have been too many lives lost. I would like to think that if we all just wore our masks, washed our hands, and abided by whatever cleaning protocols are in place that this would eventually end! Yet every Walmart trip I see people still not wearing a mask. People have some high emotions when it comes to their personal beliefs with this virus. I found that out recently with some of my teaching colleagues. Different districts are doing different things to try and handle the challenges of keeping or not keeping schools open. I would never want to be in an administrator shoes because quite honestly you are definitely going to piss people off no matter which way you go. Our district initially made up their minds to keep our Elementary building open, but shut down the Middle and High School buildings. This decision was made because the Elementary wasn’t experiencing the COVID cases that were present in the other 2 buildings. This pissed off a lot of elementary teachers. I was not one of them!
In fact, I was so grateful to still be able to teach kids in person. Some teachers felt that it wasn’t fair for them to have to teach at schools while other teachers in our district can teach safely from their own homes. Although, I feel that everyone has the right to their own opinion on this (some have underlying heath issues in which make them more compromised). I think when possible we should be teaching in person. You can’t compare virtual learning to in-person learning. We have come a long way, but it just isn’t the same! This past week I finally got a student to come 4 days instead of 2 days of in-person learning. When I told her she said, “I am so happy I could cry! I just can’t stop smiling!” Another student is currently writing her poem about how lonely she is because her father is incarcerated. These are the things I just don’t think everyone quite understands. Is it risky to have schools open during a pandemic? Of course! However, the schools are not just a place of learning. Putting the academics aside, the social piece is just as important. Unfortunately sometimes the school lives of these students are happier and safer than their home lives.
Many professions didn’t ask for this shift in their field of expertise. You don’t have a choice though because none of us signed up for this! All the essential workers weren’t given the choice to work or not, so why should us teachers be any different? We are all in survival mode together! As it is now we (Pre K-12th grade) are shut down for at least the next 4 weeks. Fortunately, our 2 week Christmas break will fall over this too, so fingers crossed that this 100% virtual learning won’t be very long. As much as I hate it for selfish reasons (it is hard to teach with my younger kids from my home, it is not the most effective way of learning, and I miss seeing those cute little faces) this is the decision that has been made, so I will just take it day by day and make the most of it. Here is to better days ahead!
Mary
Ruthless Lifestyle 