Conrow Class Memes

The end of this school year has been difficult on many levels for every teacher and student... but a little more so for teachers like me who are also leaving their school at the end of this year. Especially those of us who didn't choose to leave. Looking for a job while trying to close out an unexpected end to a school year during a global pandemic is an interesting, busy, frustrating place to be. 

But my final student assignment of the year changed the tone of my final report card weekend. I had my students create Conrow Class Memes. Looking through them brought me smiles and full belly laughs.

They nailed them. Many students made two, some made as many as four, capturing the time we spent together. 

From my love of purple

and tortoises

to their penchant for bursting into song

they left no stone unturned.

I have never assigned classroom memes before, but if I am lucky enough to have a classroom again in the future, I certainly will continue to ask students to use this method of reflecting on their year. It was a fun walk down memory lane through their eyes. They did a great job of keeping their humor well intentioned and there were certainly themes that emerged.

Homework:

My penchant for standing on desks:

Many of them also showed that they did hear several of my messages throughout the school year in a humorous validation of my teaching career.

Everything's Pointing Toward Social Studies

I still don't know what's over this next horizon for me. I keep trying to be okay with that. It's definitely a first world problem in the middle of this pandemic. I'm reminded of that when I see a former student of mine on the news. Thankfully he's now recovering at home, a victim of "pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome" which is the name given to the COVID-19 complication that has been hospitalizing kids worldwide.

Today was a nonstudent day. It was on the calendar all year as a teacher work day for the accreditation report the school was supposed to have finished in June. Of course, that was before the COVID crazy hit. I don't even know what the current accreditation plan is, nor does it really matter for me at this point since I won't be working at the school next year and we are no longer working on the report. My group was done anyway. I mean, it needed to be edited and merged into a common voice with the other parts of the document, but my group was ready for that. I wonder if words I wrote will be used in the final report some day, when accreditation is relevant again?

The school honored the non-student day that has been on the calendar since it was published about a year ago. I spent today grading. I wasn't behind, but I asked my students to do a review assignment for a history chapter yesterday, and reading through their responses took most of the day. Even with distance learning and the "senioritis" that comes at the end of 8th grade in a pre-K through 8th grade school, the students by and large proved they learned something about Westward Migration in the 1800s. A couple of students even punctuated their responses with snarky asides that had me smiling at their wit. One even added additional research in case the questions were asking something slightly different than face value (very much above and beyond the expectation)!

In the midst of the hours this ended up taking me, I received two emails. One was to let me know that my application materials have been forwarded to a selection committee for a high school social studies position.  The other was offering me and interview for an 8th grade homeroom/middle school social studies position. There is even a curriculum developer position I was excited to submit application materials for recently, for a job developing eLearning materials in the area of social studies. Of course none of these are sure things, and I have only been asked to interview for one of the positions, but it is interesting to me that *all* of them are related to social studies.

Okay. I can be down with that. My favorite activities of this year were tied to social studies. I am hopeful the job hunt will soon be at an end. But it's still so sad to be thinking about an end to my time at my current school. It was a short stay, but one that I will always value.

A few pictures from the Revolutionary War/Capture the Flag simulation this fall:

Musings from the Job Hunt

Looking for a job is never easy. But it's become incredibly frustrating in the past week or so. Maybe I need to take a step back and not look at the job lists that come through my email for the next week, or at least until I'm done teaching this school year. Either I've already applied, I'm not qualified, or I have the luxury of saying, "No thanks" to the jobs that are coming through my inbox. If I was a registered nurse, a licensed therapist, or willing to be a warehouse picker for Amazon I might already have a job lined up.

I understand that I'm blessed to be able to pick and choose the jobs for which I put in applications. And I have come across some exciting opportunities from the aforementioned automated emails full of job listings, so I am trying hard to expand my search to include new ideas. But the field of education is on the precipice of something huge here. I don't want to turn tail and flee just as the world situation is requiring a massive paradigm shift in my field. I guess that's kind of an overstatement - I have only applied for jobs where my teaching experience will be seen as an asset.

But I don't feel it is an overstatement to say education is on the brink of a massive shift. The current classroom model makes it literally impossible to keep six feet of distance between students. The fact that educators all over the world made a switch to distance learning with very little training and very little time shows that the future of teaching and learning could easily be turned on its head within the next decade. Proponents of flipped classrooms are probably doing a little "I told you so" celebratory dance in their heads. We knew there was a better way to deliver content, but making the change was seen as mind bogglingly challenging. It turns out, for many of us anyway, it actually wasn't as hard as we thought it would be. 

I myself told my husband in early March that there was no way I could do my job from home. Wow, was I wrong. I would venture to say that with very little training, and very little time to transition, I have been doing a fantastic job teaching from home. Imagine what it could be like with real training and enough time to really do it well? Don't misunderstand - seeing my students in the classroom for six months prior to the pandemic and building in-person relationships before going online was key to our successful transition to eLearning this spring. My private school was also able to accommodate those students whose home tech needs fell short of what is required for full at home participation. But I can now finally imagine myself embracing the flipped classroom model I have been reading about since the start of my career.

The baby tree given to me by my room parents last week.

I will get to watch it grow from my kitchen window.

Bad Morning, Awesome Day

My day started with me throwing my breakfast all over myself. I had to clean the floor, the counter, the microwave, and change my clothes, all before I took a bite or even a sip of coffee. I don't know how nothing broke. I had sticky, hot oatmeal all over the everywhere, and directed my frustration at my poor husband, who happened to be in the room. The only jobs I found I was interested in applying for, I had already submitted applications. It wasn't the best start to my day.

Thankfully, it got better, as soon as I started my work day. I have a student who literally sings, "Here," during my video chat attendance check. I had a student brush his feathery hair foward, Flock of Seagulls style, camera on, during morning prayer.

While it is true that we are winding down the school year, and these eighth grade kiddos are beginning to mentally check out of their online learning. It's actually happening later than normal for this group of kids, and I'm pretty sure I have the quarantine to thank for that. (But there was a notable drop in work completion this week.)

My senior had a package of Legos arrive today. My belated Mother's Day present was in the mix. We sat at the table putting Bricks together, together when the dog started barking. I caught the eighth grade room moms putting a sign and a tree in my front yard.

We stood outside, standing at a distance from each other, talking. I was in my bare feet because I went outside unexpectedly. It was so good to see them. Before this delivery I knew they appreciated me, but it was awesome to feel it emanating off of them as they took pictures of me with their gifts and we chatted about the possibilities for the start of high school for their graduating eighth graders. It was bittersweet, because after all, I am leaving this community. I will no longer be a part of SMM Irish very soon. I don't know what's next for me, and they don't know what's next for the school, with so many teachers cut from positions that seem necessary for the day to day operations. We parted promising to pray for one another and with words reminding each other that we will see each other soon, for their kids' virtual graduation via Zoom in just a couple of weeks.

We ended the night by introducing our high schoolers to some high culture from the early 90s. It turned out to be a pretty good day.

Teaching in May 2020

Teaching in May is always a juggling act of activities and working increasingly harder to engage students while figuring out how to wrap up the year with enough data and time to fill out report cards before they are due. Although this year is incredibly different from any other, and many of the activities have been cancelled, those that remain on the calendar are being re-worked for a virtual format and my school has yet to finalize decisions about end of the year report cards. 

Even though the struggles of this spring are weighing heavily on me, there is still so much joy in what I do. I have been requiring my students turn on their mics and answer audibly for an attendance check each morning. I told them that hearing their voices gives me a physical reaction - my heart leaps for joy at hearing their voices. Literally. It's such a small thing. But at the same time, it's not.

I went into the school building today to pick up thank you notes written by the eighth graders to the staff. It's an example of an end of year tradition that is being re-worked for a virtual format. The graduating eighth graders usually take over a staff meeting in May to thank the entire school staff. There is a presentation by the students and then the staff feasts on sweet and savory treats provided by the parents while reading personalized thanks written by each eighth grader. This year the thanks were put in our boxes in the office and we were asked to pick them up in advance of the presentation that has been put together for our weekly Zoom staff meeting.

 

In reading through these notes, I get a glimpse of myself through my students' eyes. They talk about my purple hair and car, about how much they learned in my classes, and how much I jump up and down during class. For once, I overlook grammatical errors in their writing. Most are detailed and heart-felt, some are quite personal. 

On the heels of reading through these notes, I read a comment on my previous blog post (a very rare occurrence) reminding me of a back to school note a previous student of mine wrote to his mom after being in my fifth grade classroom for only nine days:

I really do love what I do.

Learning how to do eLearning

The past year has been fun, hard, and crazy. I have been non-renewed. My current school had a massive budget shortfall before COVID-19 and as my school was preparing for transitioning to eLearning I was told my contract would not be renewed. The same day I went into a meeting excited about all the new learning and skills I was gaining as we prepared for schools to shutter, I was told I wouldn't be able to continue working in the same building after June.

I started teaching online in mid-March as I started searching for a new job, as the world shut down. I can't tell you how difficult it is to search for a new job during a global pandemic nor how difficult it is to learn how to do my job in an entirely different way while wondering if I will ever teach again, whether teaching will ever be the same, and whether the world will ever by the same again. 

My thoughts have been all over the map. I feel selfish for worrying about my career while others battle a largely unknown disease, worry about paying their mortgage, where their next meal will come from, or whether they will ever recoup the financial losses of the past two months. I will be paid through August. My husband can work from home for however long is deemed necessary. But I can't stop wondering what is next for me. Will I teach again? I only have private school experience, in four different schools, with a non-renewal on my record. Will I ever be able to find a job outside of teaching?

So, I'm kind of a wreck.

I've been working my tail off reinventing my practices for an online format, teaching content I didn't get to last year - my first year in this building. My students this year are among the best I've ever had. Given that I've been teaching for the better part of 20 years that is saying a lot. Really, most of my current student are intrinsically motivated to learn. They literally say, "Thank you for the learning opportunity" when I assign something they'd rather not do but see the value in. They are amazing individuals with incredible potential. They have kept me going since the middle of March. I am no longer working for a school that let me go. Nor am I simply marking time until the end of the year during a global pandemic. I am working for these kids who deserve everything I can possibly give them. 

Teaching in an eLearning environment has been fun. I truly have enjoyed the process behind becoming an online teacher. I know there is so much I don't know when it comes to the technology I'm using, but I learn a bit more each day, a little more each week, a lot more each month. It's an amazing feeling for a self identified life-long learner to know I am continuing to learn each and every day of this pandemic. I am growing as an educator. I am growing as a person. 

I stop and cry. I rant at my husband. I text my friends. I don't know what's next for me. But I do know that even as I try to pull back and work less so I can find my next job, I need to do what is best for my students during this crazy, historic time we find ourselves in.