It has certainly been a challenge to create and administer interesting, fulfilling and also engaging lessons for my students in fifth grade online. I have worked hard to learn new technology like the google hangout and screencastify and flipgrid and, well, there are so many possibilities out there, it will overwhelm even the most tech-savvy teacher in the district. New things are coming out constantly so you have to keep up, and then you have to chase down students, and yet you are required to "do no harm" so you don't want to ask too much of them either..here are a few more thoughts I have had over the last several weeks since I last posted about this complex situation.
1.) I have learned how difficult it is to hold students accountable if they aren't even there in front of you, live, and you might not be able to get a hold of them. If they don't want to be found, it is very easy for them to ghost you or disappear as soon as you try to find them.
2.) I have learned that it may not even matter in the long run, so just keep calm.
3.) I have also learned, however, that you have to at least keep trying to connect with them, in positive ways, and you might occasionally have success with one or two.
4.) I have also learned that if you keep your nose clean and your head down, and your mouth relatively quiet, you can survive in every way.
5.) I have learned that throughout this time all alone in my home office, I am never, never bored, there is always something to do, to learn, to see, to witness, to explain, to understand, to process.
6.) I have learned that I am becoming more and more impatient with other people wasting my time, which is mostly online these days or by zoom calls.
7.) I have learned that there is nothing more important than my family, all of it, some of which I was born into, some of which I have created over the 61 years I have been alive. And I thank God for them every day!!
8.) I have learned that you really just have to take care of yourself, because no one else will, and others will possibly take advantage of your kindness and generosity if you don't take care of number #1 first, that being said, being generous during this time is the only way to be, all the way around. Patience, patience, patience.
9.) I have learned that the discipline that I have acquired over the years with my studies of dance, drama, working out, singing, piano, writing, reading, and other creative pursuits, all of those ways I have disciplined myself are working to my advantage since I began working from home.
10.) My own company is really quite delightful and enduring, and my home is a great sanctuary for me.
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