Yesterday our school announced that we are to be physically closed until Monday, April 27. At that time we will re-evaluate our situation. Graduation is scheduled for May 24. This is hard news to digest. I understand that many many teachers and parents and students are digesting similar news right now.
At breakfast this morning my ten year old daughter said ‘I don’t like virtual school’. She then made a couple of remarks that I should remember exactly, but I don’t. I’ll paraphrase her – ‘I think that there should be some separation in our life. Home is for relaxing, snuggling with my kitties, and fun. School is where I focus and work on learning. It’s hard to do that in my room.’ What she did not touch on, but she definitely mentioned last week when all of this started for us is that school is where her friends are. FaceTime chats are fun, text chains can be as well. None of it replaces being around people.
I have made a commitment at this point (only four class days in so far) to hold zoom meetings for all of my 50 minute classes. For our 90 minute meetings I am setting up 10 minute one on one sessions. I don’t know how sustainable this all is, but the reassurance of seeing and hearing each other feels really valuable. Early survey results indicate my students feel the same way.