Year 10: Week 27 – The First Day…for the third time

I had a first day of school this year in September. It was exciting and fun, and a really great moment. Then I went on paternity leave, and coming back from that I had another “first day.” That day was challenging. It felt weird being back and taking in all that I had missed. After about a week, I felt like I was back in the grove.

This Monday, I had another first day. The first day I taught remotely.

I’ve taught in so many different situations. The youngest students I’ve taught were six years old, and the oldest I’ve taught were octogenarians. I’ve taught in private school, in public school, in summer camps, and private music lessons. However, I have never taught remotely.

Teaching is not the same job in different contexts. There are specific skills one has to learn to teach a summer gifted program versus a high band music theory class. Like teachers all across American, and around the world, I’m doing something that I have not been trained to do, had minimal time to figure out, and don’t feel confident doing.

On one hand it’s good for me to be in a different teaching situations. It’s helps be grow as a professional and as a person. However, the jerking, sudden, and traumatic way that we as a country got slammed by this crisis left us in a horrible mindset to make these adjustments. We are working to figure out what is best for the children of America. While we are doing our work, the inequities in our country that we have lived and were left unaddressed are becoming glaring issues in our ability to do this work.

Some schools have enough devices for students to take home. Some do not. Some families don’t have internet at home, and so many children rely on schools for the most basic of needs to be met like food. There are children at home bored to tears, and some who are stressed out trying to take care of their younger siblings while their parents work.

This is the context of our work. 

I dove in on Monday.  I taught my students over video chat, and I loved seeing my students. No, nothing compares to being the same room as them, but this was better than nothing. It took some doing to figure out the best way to structure our time and there were norms to set-up, and some thing I learned the hard way.  However, we did alright.

This is not a way of working I like, but I love my students and I care about them deeply, and I’m willing to lean into this challenge for their sake. I could tell that having time together really meant a lot to my students, and I’m so glad that I have some way to interact with them.

Every day, every week is going to be different. The new norm is in same ways never going to feel normal. I will fail, as I do whenever I learn to do something new. I’m going to learn from these failures, and keep on.  Because while the job is different, the meaning of the work and mission is the same.