I basically haven't left my school building in six months. I got pretty used to missing the little things about being an in empty building pretty quick. Now that we have returned to school first in an all remote format and then to a hybrid model, I have been able to gradually reconnect with my students and teachers. We attend half days four days a week and then all students are remote on Fridays. Students have the option to do a full remote model and about 20% of our kids do so. We are not back to "normal", but we are happy to experience school again and get to do meaningful work.
As we have come back and progressed on, we are facing a lot of realities that subconsciously we knew would be here. Like most schools we have trouble keeping up with students who are not attending. We have a large number of low-income and IEP students that are choosing to be full remote and failing multiple classes. We have met many challenges and rose to face new ones. Connectivity and device access was a challenge met. Preparing a building for the safe return of students and staff was a challenge met. Learning how to teach remotely and the skills that accompany that is a challenge that was met. What we weren't ready for was the heartache of not being able to reach and teach all of our students.
In casual discussion with my teachers and others from neighboring towns, I see a pattern. Teachers are over wearing masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing. That was the easy part. Great teachers are worried about helping every child. Right now we have many students struggling. Students are failing classes, reaching out for counselors, and in some cases in charge of caring for their younger siblings so their parents can work. Some students are completely unreachable without outside help. Because students are hurting, our teachers are also hurting.
I have talked to more than one teacher that feels that they are not enough right now. They feel that they are failing kids in a situation beyond their control. They are spending longer than usual hours to reach out only to spin their wheels. Teachers, I have news for you. You are enough.
In fact, you are more than enough. You may not get to see your students everyday for full days. But the interactions you get to have are huge to those kids. You may not think they are listening to your instruction in science or reading, but they are happy you are there to give it. You are so incredibly important to them.
March on teachers and for today, put aside all those measurements that make you feel icky. I don't care what AimsWeb or iReady says about the performance of your kids. Those kids have you and you are more than enough. Hamish told us to be relentless. Rita told us that every kid needs a champion. Keep being those things and hold your head high. One day this will be over and we will see this experiences as something that made us stronger. Your kids will see you as someone that gave them back a sense of normal when nothing else was. You are more than enough.
