Today we told our students what we expected should schools close. We're lucky that they have all been issued personal devices, and we have been given time to plan for tele-learning opportunities.
As for me, my students are deep into the 100 Day writing Challenge, and my main expectation is that they will continue to write and share their work daily on the discussion board of our online learning platform. "It will be nice to hear from you every day!" I said, "and it's kind of lucky we can all stay connected like that."
Kids were generally positive about the plan, but today the mood had shifted a bit. It seemed like the gravity of the whole situation finally hit them. Gone was most of the gleeful excitement that surrounds unexpected school cancellations, replaced by some genuine anxiety and overall uncertainty. Of course they look to us for reassurance. They've only been on the planet for 12 years or so, and everything is still new.
"You've been teaching here a long time, right?" one boy asked me this morning.
"Yep," I nodded, "27 years."
"How many times has school been canceled for a disease?" he asked.
As for me, my students are deep into the 100 Day writing Challenge, and my main expectation is that they will continue to write and share their work daily on the discussion board of our online learning platform. "It will be nice to hear from you every day!" I said, "and it's kind of lucky we can all stay connected like that."
Kids were generally positive about the plan, but today the mood had shifted a bit. It seemed like the gravity of the whole situation finally hit them. Gone was most of the gleeful excitement that surrounds unexpected school cancellations, replaced by some genuine anxiety and overall uncertainty. Of course they look to us for reassurance. They've only been on the planet for 12 years or so, and everything is still new.
"You've been teaching here a long time, right?" one boy asked me this morning.
"Yep," I nodded, "27 years."
"How many times has school been canceled for a disease?" he asked.
Haha! It's all surreal. This is my 30th year and next year we will all be able to talk about 2020--the year school was cancelled for a disease. I wonder if this will be the first of many. I sure hope not!
ReplyDeleteI love how your title answers the final question of the piece. I also love the line "They've only been on the planet for 12 years or so...." Thank you for this. I've been feeling so heavy, and this lightened me up a bit.
ReplyDeleteYou're right--it was nothing like a pre-vacation or pre-blizzard party. Cheers to 100 days of writing, though. It's an awesome opportunity for them to process everything day by day.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine what all this feels like to a 12 year old. I love how you framed this post with the question at the end. Let's hope for more sane times in the future for those 12 year olds. Hope their writing flourishes.
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