I was sitting in a meeting after school on Monday, and I had my laptop open, taking notes, and I saw a number pop up on my browser tab, showing me that I got a new email. I clicked over and saw the announcement: my school was going full indoor masking for the remainder of the school year.
I didn’t really have a response when I saw that email. My brain was still focused on the meeting. It felt like just another change around masks we were going through. We started the year with a mask mandate, then we went mask optional, then we went masks required for two weeks, and then back to mask optional, then to masks recommended, and now we were back to mask required. Throughout the masks optional phase, exposed classes and teachers had to wear masks for two weeks.
As I drove home, I started becoming more stressed and anxious. What did this new mask mandate mean to my teaching and upcoming performances? Could my band students still rehearse in class? Would all of the remaining performances in the school year require students to be masked? How was I again going to have to adjust my instruction and teaching to mask-wearing?
My 5th graders have a culminating performance next Thursday. They were making great progress, then we had that two-week mask mandate about a month ago, and after that, we started picking up steam. Now a week to prepare, the brakes were put back on. Singing with a mask on is like playing basketball with one arm. You can do all the same things, but you are very limited and cannot perform to your full potential.
Tuesday morning, it seemed likely that my students could perform without their masks, but they couldn’t rehearse with the masks off. To use the basketball metaphor again, you have to practice only using one hand; some people can use both arms during the game, but others don’t. You can get through the game, but it’s less than optimal. My students will get through their performance, but it’s a compromised experience.
I also found out Tuesday that my 6th graders, who we had planned to do band instrument trials and choral singing for their music class placement in 7th grade, couldn’t happen because students have to share instruments for this experience. The curriculum had to be scrapped. So weeks of planning for that unit went to nothing. And my 7th graders could play their instruments and were recommended to play outside, which I couldn’t do for these students, so I put aside their recording project.
So, with my 7th graders, we started watching Hamilton. For my 6th graders, I was determined to make my time with them as meaningful as possible, so I did a presentation on the origins of the “High Five” along with this excellent documentary and a feminist rewriting of a country music song.
When mitigations change and COVID-19 numbers go up I’ve had to cancel concerts, adjust or throw out curriculum, change lesson plans, and make mental adjustments to my teaching. This has happened multiple times this school year. I’m not going to get into my opinion about COVID-19 mitigations, but what I will say is that this is exhausting and a lot of extra work.
I considered going “nuclear” and telling my administration that these new mitigations meant we wouldn’t have music for the end of the year ceremonies like graduation. I calmed down, and realized that approach didn’t help the situation. A compromised performance that requires more out of me is better than no performance if I decide to make it a positive experience for my students, and I will. They deserve it. The changes I’ve had to make for my other classes? I’ll make the best out of it. As frustrating and stressful as this new mask mandate, I still have time with my students. As the year closes, I remind myself that time with my students is one of the most essential parts of teaching and one of the greatest blessings in my life.
So, I’ll keep doing what I do: teach. A lot has changed throughout this school year and this pandemic, but I am still a teacher, which means something.
No comments:
Post a Comment