"How's it going?"
What a loaded question right now! If that's how you often greet people, you might want to rethink asking a teacher that one. We might tell you.
The reality is that, for most of us, it is not going well. This is a hell of a lot more work than I had anticipated, and I anticipated a lot of work! I just spent my entire Sunday working. From 8:30 in the morning to about 5pm, I did school work. First I had to start by figuring out how to undo the damage I did last week. I don't want to tell that story, but let's just say it ended with tears. Then, once I figured out what I should do for this coming week (yes, I am only planning a week at a time, but that's better than the day-at-a-time I've been doing), I had to figure out what I was going to do, how I was going to do it, then get it all organized. So, here I am, at the end of the day and back in my pajamas, finally winding down. Just to get up early tomorrow and put it all into action.
Okay, enough whining. I really don't want to whine about this. I know I'm not the only person in this boat and that others have it worse than I do, so on to the positive.
I was at a meeting last week where we had to identify something positive that has come out of the last few weeks. That was easy. The first Friday before students were coming in, a colleague put out a frantic email asking for help on how to set up her computer with Zoom and Smartboard and all the other stuff. No less than five teachers jumped to help her. This experience has bonded us together, a faculty of 170 teachers, like nothing ever could. Colleagues from all different parts of the building, and district, have jumped to help one another with even the smallest things. One teacher taught me how to best set up my computer so I can work with all my students. I was able to show that teacher how to use a certain software to get the kids to collaborate more from home.
So, though it's tough, and every single day is a struggle, there are some little victories and lessons and I'm planning to focus on those. One day at a time!
