Dispatches from Home

Day 1 of distance learning for our students is, pardon the pun, in the books. Before school was canceled, my students were participating in a month long Slice of Life challenge which requires them to post a daily anecdote or other reflection on a personal experience, and so my plan was for them to continue that while we are away. I thought it would be a good way for us to stay connected as a learning community, as well as a chance for kids to put their thoughts and feelings into writing during this unprecedented time. And they sure have taken advantage of that opportunity!

On Saturday and Sunday, some of those who wrote complained of how bored they already were and wondered how they would possibly make it through a "30 day weekend," while others expressed annoyance that they would have to do school work over their "break". Today, though, the first week away from school commenced with several students reporting on the routines that their parents were establishing for them at home:

So my mom has made this kind of school with this whole schedule including 2 PE periods, a total of three hours of class work, half an hour of chores, and an hour of family time. So basically I was woken up at 7:30, I took a shower, got dressed and had breakfast, and then from 8:00 to 9:30 is class work time. After this I have an hour of first PE and then a snack break. So this is going to be an exhausting couple of days until I get used to this. And also I have to write a five page essay for my dad. 

Ugh today my mom is forcing me to make today a normal school day! And I hate the idea but my mom still wants me to do because she’s the boss of me

So I think that my parents are going crazy over this whole not going to school and everything is canceled thing. Especially my mom. Since dance was canceled she is making me do conditioning classes and online dance classes. Also, she is giving me so many chores. I have to fold the laundry and water the grass. She says that watering the grass is good for me to get some time outside, but I can go outside on my own without watering the grass. So, I think she is just using me for manual labor. Plus, I have to lookup and tell her about the census. And not just what it is but how long we have had it, who made it, etc. It’s kind of overwhelming. Now, I have to go to water the grass for my “outside time” and if I don’t I will probably get yelled at so bye! 

So today my dad wants to make today like a school day but i keep telling him that we have things on canvas and we also got packets. But then he said that instead of him being teaching math and stuff like that he’s going to teach PE fun.
So in "PE" today were going to be learning core exercises that going to be interesting. Oh and my mom she is on me like a tick to get my work done. And my brother he is going to get so stressed out i already know. So in conclusion my day and most days for about a month are going to be crazy. 

Hi guys, I’m so exhausted from my workout today. My mom makes me do a 30 minute work out which is super tiring. I had to do 50 push-ups and 50 curl ups. And 10 or something pull-ups. I hate having no school. There’s nothing to do but there’s lots to do. It’s weird. 

Last night my mom went over our schedule for the next day. She said school wouldn’t be any different than home. “Are you sure about that mom?!

Nice work, parents! Looking forward to Day 2!

Looking Backward

I spent a part of my day today working on the family tree my mother started on Ancestry.com. For those of you who are not familiar, the site adds little green leaves next to the name of family members to show that there is a hint, some as yet unlinked source that may provide information about that person. For me, these hints can be rabbit holes leading to facsimiles of hand-written census rolls, marriage or death certificates, or actual photos of gravesites and memorials. (Today I even found yearbook pictures of my sister and sister-in-law!)

I was lost in the past for at least 2 hours, exploring the lives of sailors, shoemakers, and inn keepers I never knew, but the fact that they were people that people I loved loved made everything seem quite relevant. And in these uncertain times, knowing how it all turned out was a comfort in itself.

Seize the Day

As long as you can stay six feet apart, outdoor activities are allowed and even encouraged when you are practicing social distancing. With that in mind, we met several neighbors and their dogs this afternoon to walk the section of the Potomac River Heritage Trail that runs through River Bend Regional Park.

Lots of folks must have had the same idea, because every park on the way up there, Scott's Run, Difficult Run, and Great Falls NP, was packed with lines of cars waiting to get into their parking lots. The wait to get into River Bend was only about 10 minutes, but the place was more crowded than I have ever seen it.

As the six of us and our six dogs hit the trail, the throng thinned out, all of us spreading ourselves over 400 acres and more than 10 miles of trails. What a glorious afternoon! The bluebells were about to burst into bloom, tight blue blossoms topped luminous spring green foliage that practically glowed in the March sunshine. A bald eagle posed on a bare branch beside its nest just on the other side of the river. Spring peepers raised a froggy fracas at the pond, and we even passed two people hiking with their cats. Yep! Their cats.

It was just the kind of day that reminds you to embrace this wild world and hold on for as long as you can.

New Frontiers

What do you say to students and colleagues when you know that none of you will be back at school for at least a month? I heard all sorts of variations this afternoon.

Good bye!
See ya when I see ya.
Have a good one.
Enjoy your time at home.
Do your work.
Get plenty of sleep.
Take care.
Stay healthy!
Ciao!
Read!
Stay in touch.

But the one that seemed the most fitting?

Good luck.

Never Before

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.

No Looking Back

Like my friend Mary at Scattered Thoughts did yesterday, I stopped by the grocery on my way home today. In general, I feel we are well-provisioned to stay at home for a while if need be, but it never hurts to stock the pantry a little bit more. At 4:30 in the afternoon, it was rather quiet, and aside from the sanitizers, most everything else was on the shelves or being refilled as I shopped.

The big news for us was running into a good friend who is also a teacher, buying lobster dinners and steak, seeing a current student and his mom, shopping for cereal and milk, and then being stopped by a tall young man in his mid-20s.

"TJ?" he asked, using the nickname of our school.

I looked closely at him, and somehow the last 13 years faded from his adult face so that for a minute I could see the boy he was in 2006-7. "Philip?" I said, and he smiled wide.

"I can't believe you remember me!" he said, but then cast his eyes down. "Well, I guess I can," and I knew he was thinking of some of the trouble he had gotten into in middle school.

"What are you doing now?" I asked, changing the subject.

He told me he had been in the army and was now training to be a firefighter. I thanked him for his service, and he filled me in on some of the guys he kept in touch with.

"You should come by school one day to see if it's changed," I invited him.

"No way!" he said.

"You know you're welcome anytime!" I laughed. "If you change your mind... or the place catches on fire."

I Didn't Even Know He Was Sick

The whole sixth grade went on a field trip to George Washington's Mount Vernon today. It's an excellent field trip that for us consists mostly of a self-guided tour of the estate. As such, small groups of students tour the mansion and then roam the lawn and ramble the trails down to the wharf, sixteen-sided barn, gardens, and out buildings, ending up in the education center, which has lots of interesting interactive exhibits.

It's only about a half hour from our school, and some kids have been there before, but others haven't. I tell the former group that I have been there at least 25 times, and every time I learn something new and really cool. Today it was the demonstration on colonial cooking. Who knew that wealthy early Americans refused to eat yellow cornmeal? White? Sure, but yellow corn was animal feed to them. Ptooey!

In that way, Mount Vernon is always a fun and novel experience to me, but maybe not quite as new as it is to some of the kids. "I can't believe George Washington died!" one little girl told me today. "It's just so sad."