Teaching in a Pandemic

 Spring Break!  Finally.  This week was rough but great on some levels.  Last week CY had a special program to let kids vent about virtual learning and after the session I had the best levels of participation ever.  I wish we'd stated this sooner and did it once a month or so.  Thursday we had Fun Day -- you'd think that wouldn't be a thing in a virtual environment but I made it work.  First I showed a mildly inappropriate film (The Frighteners) then we played some games.  It really was fun -- well, I had fun and I think most of the kids did, too. Lots of chatter on the internet about opening schools.  Funny thing is -- schools are opening and many were already opened.  I go back to the building on April 12 (one year and one month since I've been in the building) and I'm sure there is some plan that we are not yet privy to to bring back students.  Right now it's just preK to 2, two days a week per cohort, and Wednesday set aside for...

 America has a chance to show the world what a kind, inclusive society looks like and we refuse to rise to the occasion.  This country was founded on the ideas of a period named The Enlightenment.  People were "enlightened" about science and economics and government and literature and religion.  They had ideas about governments for the governed not the monarch.  They had ideas about education for all.  Chaucer writes in English instead of French so the masses could read literature.  Thomas Hobbs talks about the consent of the governed and the rights of individuals.  It was radical.  It was fresh.  It was liberal.  It was the kindling for this inclusive American society.  A place where people from many different backgrounds and philosophies commune to "create a more perfect union."   Instead what we have created is tribalism.  A government that is deadlocked, broken.  This isn't what it looks like -- not what Lock...

 I'm reading an article in Mother Jones (yes, it's very far left) in which David Corn argues that the GOP is the Party of White Grievance.  I agree with this and this is exactly what Trumpism is about.  Donald Trump validated White Grievance and, even more, he fueled a fire that made the extreme Right into the Hard Right.  Hard turn to the most extreme vision of conservatism.  Hard policy when dealing with the other whether on immigration or on trade.  Hard consequences for anyone who disagreed.  I don't agree with everything Corn writes.   I disagree, for example, with saying McConnell said he would vote for Trump even though he also blames him for the insurrection at the Capitol.  McConnell actually said he would vote for the nominee.  That he would, in effect, support who the Republican voters elected.  If Democrats supported their nominee, Hillary Clinton would be the president and we'd be having a different conversation -- not ...

 This pandemic has exposed many inequities in our society.  We learned that those at the bottom of the pay scale are also those essential workers who make our society function.  We learned that many American workers could not make it through one week without a paycheck.  We learned that our largest school districts are also our most vulnerable.  We learned that while those at the top talk and fill out paperwork, teachers took action and made sure students were connected, studies continued, and families had what they needed to make this crisis more manageable.   Teachers didn't wait for officials to act.  They got on Google Meet and had class.  Teachers didn't wait around twiddling their thumbs while officials were thinking about how every student will get a device for remote learning.  They made phone calls, emailed students, and reached as many families as possible to assure them this would be okay.  Teachers taught whoever showed up at...

What do educators think about during these trying times?   We think about students mostly.   We think about students trying to log in without adequate internet.  We think about crap Chrome Books the district purchased for this daunting task. Lead, asbestos, mold -- we think about it.   Thirty five-year-olds in one classroom.  We think about it. A boiler that causes arctic temperatures in one room and the tropics in another. Yes, we think about this. We think about sitting in buildings with windows that rattle in the winter wind. We think, why do I have another book with the same stories and skills as my last book? Educators think about how all of these things affect our students, our kids.