The third year of school during the COVID-19 pandemic was chaotic, stressful, and full of challenges, some predicted and some unforeseen.
As a teacher, it felt like there were times when this school year came close to breaking me. The unpredictability, moves that felt like steps backward and a non-stop barrage of issues overshadowed the feeling of progress and good work that I did far too often.
As a parent, this school was also a challenge. Some mitigations changed, while some seemed never to go away. It seemed like we were taking steps forward and backward at the same time with COVID-19. While I was concerned about how COVID-19 affected my students, it was much more personal when I thought about how COVID-19 was affecting my children. We had other challenges, most I will leave unsaid, but there was far more good than bad this school year as a parent. The bad I absorbed and worked through with my wife. That is the work of a parent. One of the things that I'm most grateful about my children's school is that this was not my children's work.
It's hard to comprehend what the experience of the school year is like as a child. Even after getting close to two decades of teaching and moving through the school year with students, I don't feel and understand what my students are going through. I see more than others, but what I see is on the outside and from an adult's perspective. As a parent even though you are not in school with your children, you know what is going on and things went really well for my children.
Lucas is two-years-old. All I know from his experience this school year is what his teachers tell me. They paint a wonderful picture of his work, his curiosity, and the joy he has in being at school. The handful of times I did drop him off, he was eager and happy to get to school most of the time. Lucas like many children his age had to work through a lot of viruses, but he made great use of the time he had in his class and learned a lot.
Ethan is four-years-old. He said he didn't want to go to school at times, but he ended the school year talking about how much he wanted to go to school to work on specific projects. Ethan is an artist and brought home so much wonderful art. His verbal communication grew, his letter sense developed well, and his counting also showed growth. What's remarkable is how much he wants to practice and apply what he learned in school. This indicates that this learning was happening at school from a place of wonder.
Ollie is nine-years-old, and he was able to tell us how this was one of his favorite years in school. There was great academic growth in all areas. I am most excited and proud of how he applies what he learns to what he loves, like Ethan. For example, Ollie is using math to calculate how many objects he needs to collect for a video game, and he is reading, really reading to help him learn about what he is interested in.
One of the clear things is that my children's teachers really like them for who they are and know who they are as learners and human beings. This is one of the strongest signs that my children had a great school year. How a teacher knows and likes a student is the most important factor that leads to a student's positive experience at school.
I am beyond grateful for my children's teachers. They are wonderful, incredibly skilled, and giving. It makes my heart feel full knowing that they saw my children and took care of them.
Onto summer break…
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