I probably should have called in last night, but I was honestly hoping I wouldn’t have to, even though both my partner and my eldest child were complaining of a sore throat or sniffles or the ever-dreaded “feeling off” as we went to bed last night. Public Health’s rules state that if you have a symptom, you stay home & get tested. Sometimes this feels pretty silly to me – we’ve been home several times for things that are clearly not Covid – but nine schools in our area have “open outbreaks” (meaning someone is still sick) and the variants are clearly here, so when the 12-year-old rolled over and sort of moaned at me this morning, I knew we’d all be staying at home.
Oh, that’s the other rule: if one person has symptoms, they have to get tested & the whole family stays home until the results come back negative. This Spring we’ve had a lot of in-the-house family time. Sigh.
Now, I haven’t used this blog to say a lot of good things about pandemic teaching this year. In fact, I’ve been pretty grumpy about the whole thing. I feel rushed & disconnected & over-connected & pulled in too many different directions to be effective. I could go on. But today I found myself grateful for some of the pandemic changes. Unexpected.
First, I convinced (coerced?) the 10-year-old to read with me in French. This is nothing short of miraculous. We made it through two chapters of Mon Hamster est un Détective before I had to be “in class.” Because I can see his Google classroom, I knew to have him work on math and an outline for his persuasive essay. (He’s pushing for three-day weekends – prescient.) Then, right before my own class started, I made a second pot of tea and then settled in at the kitchen island. Yes! I was able to teach a full class even though I wasn’t physically in the school. My students could see my unmasked face (finally!) and I got to see what it’s like to experience the classroom virtually. Even better, my “sick” child was “able” to do the math test he was missing while we were at home. (I’m not sure he counts this as a good thing.) The teacher simply sent it to him & I supervised.
I know there are downsides to all of this. I don’t think that anyone should teach or study when they are unwell, and I’m *really* going to miss snow days (well, around here that’s “bus cancellation days” because we almost never cancel for snow), but today felt like a series of tiny wins. Not bad for a Monday.
Persistence and Pedagogy 
Glad to hear you had some wins today. Strange to realize that virtual teaching is, for some, still a novelty (since my district has been doing it all year until very recently). All the best to you and your family for a symptom free day very soon.
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I know it’s no picnic, but I believe Canada has handled the pandemic pretty effectively. I’m not sure we can say the same, and there is very little virtual teaching. Don’t get me started. I’m glad there were some bright moments. It still amazes me that you manage to get a slice written.
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Tiny wins are what it’s all about! Seeing these wins and celebrating them can change the mindset! There’s a first time slicer that is finding one win in every day in March and slicing about it She named her blog awinwithCin…https://awinwithcin.wordpress.com/! Hope tomorrow brings health to your family and more wins!
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There are certainly tiny wins, which makes me think about what will remain from this crazy time. I hope your little guy is feeling better. We’ve had a few days like those- it makes us grateful for the days we get to go to school and work.
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The best part is that you were able to see each other’s faces! That’s a win! That’s what I still love about Wednesdays, since we all stay home to Zoom. The world is a whole lot better with smiles in it, isn’t it? And, well, of course, that “second pot of tea”! Yay! Hope everyone is feeling 100% soon.
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Ha! My son told me that they can see my smile even with the mask because of all my dang wrinkles. (I told him better to smile a lot, enjoy the sunshine, and be wrinkly than to have perfect skin and no smiles.)
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That little stinker! I was thinking of how my smile wrinkles are “accentuated” with this darned mask too! It’s probably creating its own set of wrinkles at this stage of the game. Sigh.
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We are spoilt here in Australia but we have experienced almost nothing of the stuff you are going through pandemic wise. My heart goes out to you and others who have to go through this whole unwell and testing and stay at home ritual. All I can say is, it must be draining and well done, for finding those tiny wins throughout the day, especially on a Monday.
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Mondays that end with you feeling positive? Total win. Not to mention the second pot of tea.
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An advantage to being a high school teacher…you can still teach remotely while they are at school! Did you email them ahead so they could choose to call in from home too?
Today was a bonus day off for me & my children too. We needed it!
Felicitations for the French reading! That’s a true bonus!
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I have often felt so guilty for saying I missed the teaching from home days. It just worked most of the time – for our family. So weird, but it was quite productive on most days. I’m glad today was that type of Monday for you all! 🙂
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Count the wins when we can, of any size. In terms of phrasing, your combination of disconnected and over-connected is a writing win, even though the situation it describes is anything but. In three words, you encapsulated my feelings about pandemic school.
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My favorite part of this post is how you convinced your son to read w/ you in French. It sparked a memory. That’s always a bonus when I read posts. We still don’t have the rapid testing turn around you have. I wonder if next year we’ll be reading posts about what people miss about this year. And of course no snow duty is a bonus.
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Amanda, I always enjoy reading your slices. This one fits my mood of the day-grumpy because COVID is still making life more stressful than it should be. To get an appointment at the Dept. of Moter Vehicles in Virginia (where we moved), we had to wait 2 months, sent back home once because lack of sufficient proof of residency, and 3 hours of filling out paperwork to get our new licenses and license plates. Whew!
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