On Monday, I taught my sixth graders about the incredible indigenous rapper and musician Frank Waln.
In addition, I taught my students about the American Indian Boarding Schools in exploring his work. This discussion led to some of my students feeling deeply about this part of our history, and one student started crying when learning about these "schools."
I put an assembly on for my 4th and 5th graders instead of performing for their families. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19 restrictions, we couldn't bring parents into this school for this event. I've never done anything like this before, and it was a wonderful, magical event.
Tuesday, I had some difficult moments of teaching that shook my confidence as a teacher. I struggled to try to get work duties done while at the same time spending some time taking care of some essential personal things. Also, on Tuesday, my youngest, Lucas, got the flu.
Wednesday, I stayed home with Lucas. While it felt rewarding to stay home and take care of my son, things at school kept moving forward. Unfortunately, our COVID-19 testing procedures revealed that a significant number of students testing positive. This led to the cancellation of the classes for the 8th grade for the remainder of the week and the rescheduling of the choir concert that was going to be Thursday night. As schools all across America put on concerts, ours was canceled. Even though this decision was made for the right reasons, it felt like something was taken from us.
Thursday, I spent a lot of time on parent communications. I have to craft these messages carefully, and this takes a lot of time.
Throughout the week, I received emails about students testing positive for COVID-19. This, along with the cancellation of the choir concert and 8th-grade classes, changes the school's mood. Parents were feeling this, and as Thursday went on, many parents pulled their students out of school. Many families decided not to send their children to school.
Some parents sent their children to school but requested that their students not play in band class due to concerns about COVID-19. I let these students have a study hall with another teacher. These students combined with students who didn't go to school resulted in half of my band students not being present in class, which was the day's final period.
Thursday night, disturbing social media trends came to my attention, which warned that school violence. Also, Thursday night, the high school in my community, Evanston Township High School, shut down after two guns were found on campus.
Friday, I went in for a half-day of school. Many, many students were absent. I had two calls with the student's parents that went well. While these conversations were productive and felt rewarding, the morning was exhausting. I'm not sure what being burned out feels like, but I think I'm close.
I could write a whole post about each day this week, and I may later, but I'm done thinking about school right now.
It's been a week. It's been a month. It's been a year, and it's coming to an end. I'm not sure what 2022 will bring to my life as a teacher. I just hope it doesn't start how my 2021 ended.
I could write a whole post about each day this week, and I may later, but I'm done thinking about school right now.
It's been a week. It's been a month. It's been a year, and it's coming to an end. I'm not sure what 2022 will bring to my life as a teacher. I just hope it doesn't start how my 2021 ended.
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