"Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next." Gilda Radner

Posted by Leanne Geary on 4/23/2020

This quote pretty much sums up my teaching and family life since March 10th, when we first heard that school would be closed.  First, just three counties would close schools for two weeks, then within two days it was ALL state schools until April 24th.  And then before we could fully adjust, school was closed for the remainder of the 2020 year, and we are all waiting for any kind of normal to return. So distance learning is the new normal, and it continues to feel anything but normal.

If my students and families are wondering what is going on with the things that I have posted, I would hope that you would email me and ask questions. What I think I am doing, and what I do, continue to change and I am the first to admit that I am very slow at this, for many reasons.  I have read a lot of feedback via professional channels and on social media, that there is a lot of uncertainty and frustration with distance learning.  Some families experience too many emails and feel overwhelmed.  Some students feel the same.  As things have changed for high schools, my own daughter, who goes to school in another District, would say that she feels frustrated and overwhelmed at times.  Then, at other times, she is fine.  And I sit in the middle of it all and try to be mindful of my students who check in every day (I know that I have probably not given you enough to do) and the students who might rarely check in at all--and I wonder how much is enough? How much is too much? I have taken classes.  I am communicating with other teachers.  I am trying to present material that can be completed flexibly.  Due dates should be a function of individual family needs.  For me, due dates have always been a function of grading and efficiency, for giving feedback while tryiing to teach in person with students daily. Due dates allow students to learn time management, when the schedule is predictable.  Now, everything has changed, and I have no way of knowing what the family schedules or issues are that my students are dealing with.  My students are eleven and twelve, and were just learning how to do middle school this year.  I think what Kevin Allen, our principal, sent out to families this week is wise and compassionate, so I am piggy backing on that with my blog post today.  I hope you all are "....taking the moment and making the best of it." And I promise that I will continue to do the same and that I will try to do better. Take care.

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