If I Could Turn Back Time

It is the end of April.  For you new teachers, please refer back to previous end of April blogs.  This a weird time of year when you are a teacher.  Everyone gets crazy.  It just feels different.  But this is not like any other April we have experienced.  

Who would have thought?  Who would have thought that some of us would wrap up our first year of teaching or our last year of teaching in this situation?  What would have we done differently if we had known?  If we could go back in time, could we have prepped better for this?  Would we have been recording lessons all along?  Would we had been using Google Classroom from day one?  I don't think ANYTHING could have prepared us for this.  We learned fast and we adapted fast.  We did what we had to do.  We should be proud of that.

I know that it is a time of lows right now.  Many of us are struggling with the effort we are seeing…the lack of completion…the excuses.  It hurts more because we cannot reach out easily to these kids as they are able to hid from us behind the computer or they don’t answer their phones.  They don’t log onto Zoom.  We sit and ask, “What haven’t I done?  What more can I do?”  We beat ourselves up.  As educators, we are always thinking about if we could turn back time, what we would have done differently.  My heart hurts for you feeling this.  It is easy to focus on the negative.  But find those positives.  Remember those.  Think about the things we have learned, not only about ourselves, but our students and their families.  Think about all the new things you have tried.  Think about all the ways you have grown as a teacher.  There is good in all of this.  We can't turn back time.  We can keep moving forward and learn from this.

(This is normally where I would insert Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time", but the video is a little racy...)

Here is a funny about if we could go back in time, what we would tell ourselves to prep for this situation.  (DISCLAIMER:  Not all of Julie Nolke's videos are appropriate.  Please be aware...but this one is not inappropriate.)

What is Important?

I looked at the calendar and realized that on Monday it was one month since students have been in our school.  I can't decide if it has gone really fast or really slow.  I think most of us can say we know that today is a day that ends with "y".

I don't think it would be wrong to say this situation has caused us professionally and personally to look at what matters.  I found a quote this morning by Glennon Doyle that talk about the word crisis.  The Greek root of the word crisis actually means "to sift, separate, discern".  What does that mean?  To sift means to shake out excess and leave what is important.   A crisis shakes things up.  We are then asked to look at what are the important parts. What do we need to give our students?  We need to give them contact...we have to reach out to them in this time.  Connections and relationships are key.  We have seen what academically is key for our students to meet standards and gain knowledge.  We have seen that life skills are important (cleaning, cooking, etc).  We have seen that play is powerful.  As Glennon Doyle stated, "We need to hold on to what matters and let the rest fall away."

During this time, keep sifting.  Keep finding where the important things are and let the other stuff fall through.  Do it in your classroom and do it in your personal life.  

Keep your chin up!  You are doing great things!