Seeing Students in Stores

I've been teaching for over 20 years in the same area, but in four different schools and at six different grade levels. I've run into present and former students and families everywhere from Comicon to Safeway. I even ran into a co-worker and his kids, one of whom was in my class at the time, at Great Wolf Lodge once. It can be jarring, like the time I ran into a former third grader, from my first year of teaching, in the bar at Applebee's. But so far (knock on wood) I've only had positive experiences running into people from my school communities.

I'm pretty good at recognizing former students, even if I can't always remember which school or grade level they came through my classroom. I am much worse at recognizing their parents, though they often recognize me. If someone looks vaguely familiar, keeps casting glances my way, or tells me I look familiar, I assume I taught their kid(s) at some point. It only gets awkward when people talk at length about how their child is doing now without clueing me in to who their child is.

Several years ago, I ran into one former student while she was working at Bath and Body Works. She was very excited to see me and chatted with me the entire time I was in the shop. I did need her nametag to recognize her, given that she was in her early 20s and I knew her well as an eight-year-old. But it was very fun to see her enthusiasm and exuberance for life had not diminished over time. As I was leaving the store, I overheard her telling her co-worker stories about being in my classroom.

Once when I was out doing my grocery shopping at a store that was on my way home, but not my usual spot, giggling followed me through the store. It was always about an aisle behind me, and I didn't catch a glimpse of the kids who were the source, but their joy made me smile as I shopped. Finally, as I was approaching a checkout line, two girls who had been in my class the previous year jumped out at me. They had a lot of fun startling me, and the memory still makes me smile.

Today my husband and I braved the Christmas Eve crazy of a grocery store to stock up before the potential Christmas snowfall in the forecast. Our cashier was on the younger side, and he and the bagger bantered back and forth the whole time we were in their line. The bagger looked quite familiar above her face mask, and once I caught a glimpse of her nametag under her long hair, I knew exactly who she was. But she was so busy bantering with the cashier, she barely looked at the customers in her line. As we were leaving, I waved at her, and suddenly recognition lit up her face. "Your last name isn't Conrow, is it?" she asked. She turned and chatted briefly with me as the next customer's groceries piled up on her end of the counter. As she wished me a Merry Christmas, I got the distinct impression that she felt like she had missed an opportunity to chat with me while I was in her line.

I suppose students who didn't like me as their teacher might recognize me when I am out and about, and then avoid me. But I prefer to believe most of my students enjoyed being in my classroom and enjoy seeing me out in public.  Interactions like these are another perk of the job. Knowing former students have positive feelings toward me years after they were in my classroom makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Christmas Wishes from 4th Graders

 During the last two weeks before Christmas break, I found myself searching for videos on YouTube to play as a part of our morning prayer in my fourth-grade classroom at a Catholic school. I happened upon a video that was entirely in Spanish. which I knew I couldn't play in my classroom, nor could I claim to understand every word, but which captivated my attention anyway. Some store - I honestly don't remember which one - hosted an event where they asked kids to write letters to Santa. After composing the fairly typical lists of things they wanted, the kids were then asked to write Santa a letter on behalf of their parents. Listening to and watching videos of parents reading their children's letters on their behalf, I knew I needed to incorporate this activity into the final days before the Christmas break.

I found a window of time on the second to last day before the break. I shared a slide with my Bitmoji sitting on Santa's lap and asked my class to tell me what they wanted for Christmas. Everyone got to say one item. Then I had them compose letters to Santa.

Many of my students wrote the typical "I want, I want, I want" lists, which admittedly I had kind of set them up for. But we have written several letters this school year to guest speakers and have spent the past month writing weekly thank you cards to real people we know in and outside of school. As a result, some of my students took the time to write an introductory paragraph thanking Santa for past gifts, asking after Mrs. Claus, or telling Santa how amazing he is.

Potentially inspired by Phinneas and Ferb

One student only asked for books for himself, for a cure for COVID, and wished Santa a safe trip. For a ten-year-old, that's about as selfless as it gets!

But of course, the whole reason I wanted to do this activity with my students was to see what they wrote in their second letter. When the majority of kids were done with their letters to Santa, I put up a slide with my Bitmoji wishing on a star and asked them to share what they wished for their parents to have this Christmas. 

The responses ranged all over the place in the discussion, from gadgets I had never heard of before (the Lululemon mirror) to a new bed because one student's parents have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor since their bedframe broke, to a peaceful and stress-free drive to their holiday get togethers. I read letters with all of those requests, and others wishing for more family time, less work for Mom and Dad, and even less stress or worry for the family. 

My students primarily come from privileged backgrounds. Very few of them really understand the plight of people who don't know where their next meal is coming from or where they will lay their heads at night. (Though on a fourth-grade intellectual level they are aware because our school community is constantly praying for and hosting donation drives for those in need.) But they do know that the past year and nine months have been extraordinary. They feel the anxiety of their families and wish they could help.

If only we humans could crush the coronavirus, and quick too!

Social Butterfly

I had to start putting my social engagements for the Christmas break into my calendar app today. This might be because we are not traveling nor having family visit us this year. But it still felt strange to have so many plans with friends that I had to start a schedule for them, so I won't double book myself or forget about one.

The busy schedule actually started last week. I met co-workers for lunch last Sunday to "pre-funk the last week before the break." We sat around a table for at least two hours laughing and talking about our families, our place of employment, our Christmas plans, and whatever else came up. On Tuesday a different group of co-workers and I went to happy hour after school. Over margaritas these 20-something teachers were *shocked* to find out my age. Apparently, I am one year older than one of my co-worker's parents. She said it was weird to think about the fact that one of her friends is her parents' age. My favorite moment was the hushed comment, "No, you're not that old," followed by the exuberant, "You don't act old!" So now I keep telling them, "I'm so old." Afterall, it's something I say to my students all the time.

When I got to the staff Christmas lunch on Friday, after a meeting that had run long, I was surprised and pleased to see that some of my co-workers had already placed my name card at their table. One of them told me, "We grabbed all the names of the people we wanted to sit with." Does that mean I finally got to sit at the cool kids' table? Because that was never me before.

My co-workers also gave me joy with their thoughtful gift giving. One member of my team always picks similar, but different items for each of us. As I looked at my new socks, I asked my partner teacher to show me the socks she had received. Before she could even respond, I followed it up with, "Mine are better." 

I had to wear them on Friday, for our school's annual caroling competition and indoor snowball fight. They did match my outfit after all.

But the best gifts are always the handwritten cards from students and families.

The gift that made me laugh the most this year came with an assortment of pampering items. I didn't notice anything humorous about it at first. But as my husband was marveling over the fact that fourth graders carried bottles of wine into the school for me, he read the back of the "Bizzy Magic Wand" CBD oil that came with a facial mask, a bath bomb, a bar of fancy soap, and a bottle of wine. Thinking about the fine print coming into the school in the hands of a sweet fourth grader who definitely had no idea what it said made me laugh out loud. But I put some on my sore neck - and I can say it mellowed out my muscles in mere seconds.

The Wonders of the Season

 My students know how to put a smile on my face. I have had a steady trickle of gifts coming in since just before Thanksgiving. First, I got an Amazon gift card, I think for teacher appreciation week. I've been getting baked goods and chocolates too. One student gave me a GIANT Lindor chocolate Advent calendar. On Monday morning I had a student run to my desk as she entered the room, backpack and coat still on. She held a plastic bubble from a vending machine near my face, bottom side toward me so I couldn't see what was in it. "Open it, open it, open it!" she chanted as she handed it to me. Inside was a plastic Wonder Woman ring. It's too big for my pinkie and too small for my other fingers, but I wore it around my classroom all week.

On Friday another student handed me a Christmas gift bag. Inside was a handful of chocolate with a Christmas ornament.

One student who is new to our school has an IEP team from the local public school that has been working with us since the start of the school year. One day this week when she came in from lunch recess she came straight to me - advocating for herself, which is one of her IEP goals. She was upset about something that happened on the playground and asked me to mediate a conversation between her and another student. It turned out to be a simple misunderstanding that was cleared up quickly. Afterwards, she wrote me this card:

Next week is the last week of school for the calendar year. It's going to be crazy, especially with a trench being dug on the playground/parking lot. But I'm sure there will be joy in the midst of it all. I wonder how many more Wonder Woman gifts I will receive... 

December Joy

Assignment:
Make a poster of someone who shows the traits of an Inquirer

I had a student tell me last week, "You laugh a lot." In that moment I was laughing because our carpool line was being asked to shift down, yet again. Space feels tight because we are tasked with keeping our students three feet apart in the carpool line. I had felt a bit of frustration rising as we were being asked to make do with even less space, but then realized everyone was feeling the same way. I opted to laugh at the silliness of the situation. The necessity of keeping 200+ kids spaced three feet apart but not too close to the cars coming in to pick them up is a ridiculous situation... laughable even. My husband and I adopted this response to minor frustrations when we were foster parents. We'd tell each other, "If I wasn't laughing, I'd be crying." Finding the humor in minor frustrations makes it much easier to tolerate them.

We have had several teachers out on Friday, most taking professional development required to work at an International Baccalaureate World School. One of the subs in the building was a Sister, who is at least in her 70s. She was walking into classrooms during her breaks with a paper snowflake hanging from her glasses and asking kids if she had on the right kind of mask. (She had a paper face mask on underneath it as well.) There is nothing quite like seeing an elderly Sister walking around the hallways with a paper snowflake hanging off of her glasses. I'm still smiling.

My students loved the thank-you cards I had them write the week before Thanksgiving. Some of them have already brought in donations so we can write thank-yous weekly. This week I recieved four cards from my students. One very earnestly told me to be sure to check my "teacher box thing in the office" as she was leaving for the day. All four of the cards were sincere and tugged at my heartstrings. But one made me laugh out loud with the message: "I am veary thankful for having a teacher that is veary dead set on teaching us."

This weekend was report card weekend. Having the thank-you cards to look at sustained me when my eyes went blurry from looking at the screen for too many hours in a row. Even though writing report card comments is tiring, there's joy there too. It's fun to reflect on each child's progress in each subject. It reminds me of how privileged I am to have a small part in so many children's lives.

There is joy everywhere. I hope I can always spy it lurking nearby. I know it's there if I look for it. I hope I always remember to look for it.

Fall Conferences

Ah, conference week. I am back at a school that holds conferences during the first part of Thanksgiving week, with no school for the students for the entire week. It is great to only need to focus on conferences, with no teaching responsibilities in the run up to the holiday. It allows me to go into the holiday season caught up in my grading, making me much better able to focus on enjoying the holiday and family time. In a school on trimesters that begins near Labor Day, Thanksgiving week also falls near the end of the first term, which works out well for goal setting.

My school is 100% in person this year, but we opted for Zoom conferences "in an abundance of caution." Preschool might be in person. Kindergarten offered in person. But the rest of us are hosting all of our conferences via Zoom.

There are pros and cons to Zoom conferences. I get to work from home. This means I don't have to commute 10 miles toward the major downtown area. Tonight I also made a dinner my entire family enjoys instead of convenience food all eaten at separate times. I'm also catching up on laundry. But I also experienced audio difficulties today, both the larger kind that didn't allow me to hear much of anything for half of one conference, and the smaller kind that doesn't allow for multiple speakers to be heard at once.

But no matter how conferences are held, I really enjoy them. They can be exhausting and even emotionally draining. But they are always wonderfully affirming. Students reflect on their learning so far, and set goals for the middle third of the school year. These goals will be revisited during spring conferences at the beginning of the final term of the school year.

Every year many students impress me with their ability to reflect on their learning and articulate well thought out goals. We get to measure  and celebrate student growth while planning for the next bits of growth. Parents often ask great questions and express their gratitude. I get to see family interaction. I am always left with a profound sense of accomplishment, knowing I was built to be doing the job I am doing.

Here is my favorite interaction from today:

Student (as audio is connected): "Oooh! She has a purple wall!"

Me: "Are you surprised that I have a purple wall?

Student (with NO hesitation): "No."

Gratitude

Thankfulness

Fall is my favorite time of year.

The theme of this week has been Gratitude. It was partially on my schedule, but it also just kept coming up throughout the week. Next week my students do not have any classes, they just need to make an appearance for their student-led conference, so any Thanksgiving related classroom plans were slated for last week. 

I focused our morning prayer on thankfulness, gratitude, and spreading joy. We watched videos and wrote reflections. On the morning of the day I had planned to have my students write thank you cards to someone who has a positive impact on their life, a student brought handmade cards expressing specific thanks to me and my partner teacher. When I told them I was considering carving out time every week to have them write thank you cards, there was resounding agreement. So now I'm soliciting thank you cards and card making supplies from the parents of my students.

My class went to Mass on Friday - we go every two weeks. The visiting priest was elderly, but very engaging for young and old alike. He gave a homily that was 100% about saying thank you. The reading was about Jesus healing 10 lepers, but only one sought him out to express gratitude afterwards. He told the students and parishioners in attendance for daily Mass that young and old alike need to say thank you more often, and will get more if they express thanks more often.

I try to express my gratitude regularly. I stopped by my principal's office one morning this week to say good morning, and asked him if he brought his joy with him. (Our theme for the year is Building a World of Joy). He said he always brings his joy, but sometimes he forgets to unpack it. That moment brought me joy  and continues to bring me joy every time I think of it. So now I need to find a time to ask him if he remembered to unpack his joy. 

But more importantly, my students bring me joy every day. In the past two weeks, I have been more aware of making an effort to tell them. I had them do their first free write of the school year this week. When I explained that the purpose of a free write to get ideas from their brains on paper without worrying about conventions of any kind, they gave a literal cheer. And then you could have heard a pin drop as they got to work, writing. I was elated, and told them so.

I even practiced self-care this week. I visited my hairdresser, who probably knows more about me than anyone else except my husband. We changed the highlights from my hair from blue to purple. I always leave my salon with my curly hair flat ironed straight. It's still nowhere near my waist, but getting so much longer. Since I've been pretending to grow my hair back to my waist since I cut it up to my ear in sixth grade, that also brings me joy.

I had a student sneak a thank you card onto my desk yesterday from her mom. This student only comes to my room for math, but there was a heartfelt message and a $50 Amazon gift card. I am not sure what I did to warrant such thanks, but such signs of appreciation keep me coming back even when the going gets tough.

I also had a student lecture her classmates about the disrespectfulness of their behavior this week - and break down crying in an attempt to defend me from their pre-week-off squirreliness. I felt bad for how upset she was, but grateful she cared enough, and proud that she was willing to speak out and let others know how she was feeling.

This week I also assigned students to make an inquirer poster. They were to draw and name a person they know in real life who exemplifies the IB indicators of an inquirer. One student chose me.

My job brings me joy. I am thankful every day I get to do what I do. It can be challenging, but I make a difference. I hope and pray my students find a career, a path in life that brings them joy. If your chosen career doesn't bring you joy, you are doing it wrong - or you need to find a new one.

Wild Week

 Okay, I understand that today is only Tuesday. But trust me. It's been a wild week already. Really. Hear me out.

The crazy at the beginning of Monday came from home printer troubles after spending most of the Sunday visiting with my in-laws. My home printer has decided to print a blue background on all pages with color, and a gray one on all black and white documents. I use it anyway on Sunday nights when I have a 7:15 meeting with the admin team on Monday morning. But this week my computer stopped connecting to my home printer about halfway through my Sunday night print jobs.

So, I went into Monday morning without all of my copies ready to go. I was ready for all of my morning classes before my prep period and lunch, so that was good enough... Until during my last lesson of the day I started wondering if I had made all the copies I needed to complete the activity. I had just started ruminating on how I could fill the end of the day if I didn't actually have everything my students needed to complete the activity.

That's when the fire alarm went off. As the student body lined up outside behind the school, we heard the fire trucks arriving in front of the school. It wasn't a drill. Apparently it wasn't a fire either - it was smoke from crayons being melted during art class. And it turns out I DID have all the copies I needed. But my instructional time was eaten up by the fast walk outside, standing around in the cold, and the leisurely walk back into the building.

Today was slated to be really, really long. Tuesday is our early dismissal day for staff meetings. My fellow GRACE (guiding regionally, advancing Catholic education) teacher leader and I were running the meeting. Finally. We had initially been on the calendar to lead this meeting the first week in October. But things kept coming up, and we got pushed off again and again. Today it had finally stuck on the calendar. In the evening the preschool through fifth grades were going to have our rescheduled open house. It was originally supposed to be on Thursday, but the power went out on Thursday. When I left for work this morning, I told my husband I'd see him after open house tonight. He replied, "Unless the power goes out."

As my students were eating lunch, the principal came over the intercom and told everyone that due to high winds, no one was going to be allowed outside, and we needed to shut our windows and blinds, "just in case." Recess was going to be indoor. Even though our eating period was only half over, my students began to line up next to my desk to ask me questions about indoor recess. We made it through with the help of Chromebooks. One student commented, "That was the BEST recess ever!" as he logged off the device at the end of recess.

The school alert system announced the end of the high wind alert early into the afternoon instructional time. Did I mention that the high wind alert was actually a tornado warning? Anyway, minutes after the wind alert was over, the power went out.

My students were in the final stages of setting up the activity that was interrupted by the fire alarm yesterday. I handed out flashlights, and let them test their "roller coaster" set up. But I opted to not have them conduct the height and collision trials that will require them to record their results in the dark. So we finished the day reading by flashlight.

When the students left, my day was not over. My principal asked my co-worker and I to give our presentation to the staff anyway. Even though we had set up an interactive activity on Lumio, a Jamboard, and created a spreadsheet for "homework" where teachers need to input their standardized test results for our digital data wall, we went ahead and talked through our points. So much for all the time spent creating the interactive activities and slide presentation for our meeting.

When the staff meeting ended and the power was still out, the principal and marketing director were not ready to cancel the already postponed open house. We were told the decision would be made at 4:00pm. After the low-tech version of our meeting ended much earlier than it would have under typical circumstances, everyone stood around chatting for several minutes. Eventually I made it back to my room, set up several flashlights on my desk, and graded a couple sets of papers. 

It was 4:10 when I finished the second set, so I walked back down the hall to ask whether a decision had been made. It hadn't. Many teachers were hanging around the front office, waiting to hear if we could go home or if we should try to find a nearby restaurant with power for an early dinner before coming back to school. At 4:20 the marketing director made the tough decision to cancel the open house for the second time.

So, what are the odds on us being able to complete our science exploration of energy tomorrow? And will we ever be able to host this open house? 

Dare I ask what could be next?

Joys of the Job

 This is my favorite time of year. I don't know if this was true when I was a kid, but the part of fall when the leaves change color has become my favorite in my adult life. I'm guessing as a California native, fall wasn't my favorite time of year. I probably would have said summer, where my birthday falls, or possibly winter, where Christmas falls.

But living in the Pacific Northwest, and taking students to Outdoor Environmental Education camp 11 times in October, has made fall my favorite season. It's just so beautiful. There is joy to be found in kids stretching themselves beyond that which they thought possible and come out exited and giggly on the other side. I miss OEE week, but fall holds other joys. On dark evenings just before daylight savings makes it darker earlier in the day, a warm home while the weather rages outside comes to mind. But I digress.

Two plus months into the school year, students are more independent. Relationships and routines are established. This is when the magic really begins to happen. Final projects have been assigned and some class periods are work periods - periods where students work and I observe, offer guidance, and get a little grading done.

Final projects that include presentations are the best. Students learn from one another, a bit of class time is pre-planned, social skills are developed for audience and presenters alike, you get to learn a bit about your students as they present, and grading happens as the presentations happen. Also, sometimes you gain evidence that your students have been paying attention to the details of your life and really like you.

I am blessed to be able to teach primarily through hands on activities and reflecting on those hands-on activities. This is the nature of an IB world school. It means student engagement is very rarely low. It requires collaboration and puts kids in situations every day where they have the opportunity to help others and dive deeply into their curiosity. They are learning all the required standards, but more importantly they are becoming better versions of themselves and developing a deep curiosity about the world around them.

Every year, I ask students to write a well-structured paragraph responding to one of four Halloween prompts. Generally, most students choose to write about the "perfect costume for Mrs. Conrow." I got some interesting answers this year: a duck, Cookie Monster, Ursula, Pikachu... Although I didn't take any of their suggestions, I don't think they were disappointed.

One student chose a different prompt. She wrote about "the perfect" Halloween. It was a well-structured paragraph, but it was also a poem. 

This is where the magic happens, people. This is why I do what I do.

Mid October

 October is a hard month. I guess the holiday season (with its breaks) seems far away, and the energy of the start of the school year has dissipated. It's really a good time to hunker down and focus on the WHY of what I do.

My students are amazing. I know I have felt this way many years, and I'm very thankful for that. Kids are awesome. And the year I stop feeling that might be the year I need to run away from what I do. As a mom, would I want my kids in a classroom where the teacher doesn't see the amazing and awesome potential of my child? That would be a hard NO.

So this time of year, when the daylight is waning, the temperature is dropping, and the happiness is fleeting, I cling to the joy. 

The joy of reading.

The joy of harvesting.

The joy of discovering.

The joy of crafting out of paper.

I know I already knew this about myself - but if you put me in a new subject or new grade level, it becomes my new favorite. The fifth grade teachers at my school are prepping to head to Camp Seymour the week after next. I'm not going, and there is a part of me that is mourning the loss of a camp experience with my class. But my fourth graders are learning and growing and become better versions of themselves without an outdoor environmental education experience. I see it every day. I love what I do. I hope I'm making a positive lasting impact on the kids who come through my room.

October

 Happy weekend!  Last week was a doozy. It's October, and somehow every October I am reminded that during my first year of teaching this is the month I was ready to throw in the towel and find another career. Given that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in kindergarten leaving the profession after only one month should have been a scary thought. But in my memory, I felt relieved. As a first year teacher I still felt responsible for my students - I knew I couldn't leave them or the school in the lurch, so I decided to suck it up for eight months. But in October of that first year I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would not be back the following fall.

Obviously I didn't quit. But twenty one years later, October is still a hard hitting month. The change in weather, the fewer hours of sunlight, the end of ramping up, the start of end of unit tests and projects, the first round of standardized testing, the beginning of chasing missing work, and discovering which parents are over-involved and which don't respond to emails all adds up. 

COVID protocols add to the fatigue, but not as much as I thought they would. Our rolling drop off (from 8:00am to 8:45am) and staggered dismissal (where kids with K-2 siblings leave at 2:45 but the rest stay until 3:00) are a pain to navigate. There is so much time where so many kids have little to nothing to do. But my class is super well behaved. I have helpers who plug chrome books back on the cart at the end of the day and straighten the books on the shelf without being asked. Most sit and read or draw comics. A few are learning to use the time to complete missing work. 

Creating out of paper and drawing are huge too. So much so that last week I had to tell students to bring in their own paper to use. The plane above was accompanied by an amazing paper tank by the end of the week.  After I declared my paper off limits, I took a large piece of paper and wrote "4th Grade Is..." and put it on the low table in the front of my room. I'm limiting the number of students who can work on it at one time in order to maintain physical distancing so students are impatiently waiting their turn. Most who have had a turn have already asked for a second go.

Many of my kiddos have also used some of the time to draw pictures for me. My collection has grown since this photo was taken, and I am already trying to decide where else I can add new artwork as it comes in. Usually I leave it up all year and file it in the spring. This year I may have to take down the art gifted to me at the trimester break in early December to make room for more creations.

I do have to keep reminding myself that this group of kids have not experienced a "normal" school year since they were in first grade. They went home to an online education experience in March of second grade, and began third grade on Zoom. Some of them finished third grade at home while their peers were in the classroom. The hybrid teaching model was monumentally hard on teachers, and students in both groups were shorted the "best" any teacher had to offer. 

So really, it is not surprising that some are struggling with the academic expectations and others appear socially immature for their age. Meeting kids where they are and working to move them forward is my job. I love it, even when it gets challenging. But when it gets challenging, having a group of like-minded colleagues who are also close friends is extraordinarily helpful. 

A little teacher TikTock also helps to remind me of the humor in nearly every situation. One of my good friends posts gems on a regular basis, and teachers at my school are amazing at finding bits that keep us laughing.

Joy is a Choice

 

I am enjoying being back in the building more than I would have imagined. I am still concerned about the number of kids I have traveling out of state. One has come back after the CDC recommended quarantine for unvaccinated people, one is currently quarantining at home after out of state travel, and tomorrow is another student's last day before her family takes a Disney vacation.

It's a struggle to figure out how to keep the kids from falling too far behind after they come home, but before they are allowed back in the building. My school is not offering an online only or hybrid option this year. We have contingency plans for the circumstance of a COVID case, but not for family vacations with students too young to be vaccinated. The best I can do is have fully vaccinated parents pick up their work for them after they come home because 20 years of teaching has taught me not to send work in advance. Unforeseen circumstances have changed my plans literally every time I have sent home work ahead of teaching lessons in the classroom.

Anxiety over the Delta variant has waned with the daily routine of going into the building. It's a necessary change of heart to be effective at my job. Yes, I still see students with their noses uncovered or their fingers under their masks throughout every day. But they're kids, and they do respond to redirection.

Being back in the building has allowed for social interaction with my co-workers that I didn't know I was missing. I guess I did know I was missing it back in March of 2020 when schools in my area shuttered. But I was laid off from that position on the same day students were retrieving their belongings form the building and my emotions were a total tangle as a result. Staring online only last year at a school I thought I had left behind kept the emotional turmoil going.

But this year we began fully in person with eight new teachers in the building. And I am having frequent in person hallway interactions that bring me joy. As previously acknowledged, I have been known to "commit to a theme" with my attire. This year one of the math specialists has made it a point to do a "fit check" with me daily. It's something his daughter apparently does, naming where she purchased each clothing item. But his check in with me is really about whether or not my mask matches the rest of my outfit. Every time he does a "fit check" with me, it brings a smile to my face. So, of course, I spend time making sure my mask matches my outfit every day before I walk out the door.

I have another co-worker, who is new to the building this year. She's been on a 75 day self improvement program since before the school year began.  As far as I know she's only been drinking water. She is reading at least 10 pages every day from books that have some kind of self-improvement value, and has been adhering to a specific diet. I found out about her program during a staff happy hour at the beginning of the year and suggested we plan something for the day after her program ended. She stopped me in the hallway today and reminded me her final day is just over two weeks away. She wants my help planning something for her first day of being able to eat and drink what she wants at the end of the program.

Hallway interactions are fun. I am part of a community at work. Joy finds me on a daily basis in the hallways of my school.  I know joy is a choice, but it's an easy one to make when I know I have friends I get to see every day just by walking into my workplace.

First Full Week

 All of my students attended school on Monday and Tuesday this week - so far the only days I've had everyone. I had one student quarantining after a trip during the first week of school. Another one left on Wednesday for Hawaii. I took the opportunity with all of them in attendance to snap pictures for my Wonder Wall. I'm really pleased with the "thinking faces" the students put on for the camera. Students will use sticky notes to put questions in their thought bubbles related to our unit of inquiry throughout the school year.

During the two days I had everyone in attendance, I also had them finalize our Essential Agreements and sign them. The only one they seem to struggle with is "Follow all COVID protocols." I have students who have their fingers underneath their masks consistently throughout the day. When I see it, I have them use hand sanitizer, but I'm sure I don't see it every time. They also bunch up walking to and from the playground, but mostly when we're outside because inside the floor tiles are one foot by one foot, and they are good about counting squares to stay separated.

This week contained what I really hope was the longest day of my school year. On Tuesday school dismisses early for staff meetings. The staff meeting was held in my classroom, and though it was short by my principal's standards, it ended fifteen minutes before a two hour Archdiocesan level Zoom meeting where I ran three breakout rooms. I had time after that to heat and eat a can of soup in my classroom and throw together a slideshow for my lessons on Wednesday. Then I had another hour long Zoom for Curriculum Night.

On that same day I had this conversation with a student:

Student: Mrs. Conrow, when did you get a perm?

Me: Uh... never.

Student: Then why is your hair so curly?

Me: Because it's crazy like me!

It was a good day, but so very long. All in all I have had a great start to the school year and am really enjoying building relationships with my students. They are already comfortable enough with me to write responses on worksheets like this:

I know what I do matters in the lives of kids. I had a former student send me a letter in the mail this summer. (I knew I was leaving the school so I sent my thank you cards for end of the year gifts with my home return address.) It arrived on the day before my birthday. She wrote about being bored and begged me to write back, asking lots of questions so she could have something to do. I sat down and wrote her back, first thing the morning of my birthday and couldn't stop grinning for two days because she reached out to say hello. Since then we've exchanged a few more letters and each one I receive brings me joy. I wonder how much longer she'll be interested in writing to me.

A couple of weeks ago I had a parent of a former student reach out to me, asking me to write a letter her daughter who is going on a retreat in the near future. The letters were framed as "love letters" from people who have influenced the students. I taught the student fifth grade at least five years ago, and the family moved out of state shortly after that. I feel very honored to be considered someone who has influenced this accomplished young woman.

The other morning when I was getting my bags out of my car (the purple one) in front of school, a large and loud pick up truck stopped beside me. Two teenaged boys were in the car, former students. They were both grinning from ear to ear, and shouted hellos at me before continuing on their way.

I continually tell my current students that I'm a crazy old lady. As I have left schools I have accepted social media friend requests from parents of students. This gives me brief snapshots of the growth of their kids. Catching glimpses into the current lives of people I vividly remember as little, solidifies my sense of being an old teacher. Many former students of mine are starting careers, getting married, raising kids. It's very satisfying to know that at least a few of them remember and are glad that I had a small part in their journey.

First Day 2021

 I fell asleep last night after reading the news that one of my former schools has two classes going virtual due to COVID cases in the building. They started last week. Today was my first day. It was disquieting news to say the least. Thinking about the possibility of having a positive case in my classroom, or even building within the first two weeks of the school year was not something I wanted on my mind on the eve of my first day of school. At least I knew my classroom was ready for students to arrive.

Upon arriving at school this morning, I checked my email to find a message from a new family sent at 4:30am. They had decided not to send their child to my school after all because he had been selected to attend a "lottery school" within their home district. The mom thanked me for allowing her to observe my class via Zoom last school year and said she was impressed with the lesson she saw but they had still made the decision to try the other school.

Despite these two events, my first day was amazing. My first students didn't arrive until at least ten minutes into the staggered drop off. (Last year I had a staff member's daughter show up right as the window opened, so the extra time was a pleasant surprise today.) The class was attentive and enthusiastic. We got through ALL of my routines and procedure slides, which I hadn't thought would be possible and required me to come up with an additional activity to add to tomorrow's plans. 

My students made several comments about my classroom decorations. My personal favorite corner is the area where I put up a sunflower and a photo of Machu Picchu. I placed them side by side, high up on top of cupboards. When I glance that way I think about my grandmothers, now both deceased. One of my grandmothers was born in Kansas and loved sunflowers. The other one was born and raised in Cuzco, Peru and was a teacher herself.. She even wrote a Spanish-Quechua dictionary. These pieces of art make me feel like my grandmothers are watching over me and my students.

My students, however, are especially interested in the representations of Wonder Woman set around my room. For example:

"Mrs. Conrow, is Wonder Woman your favorite superhero?"

"Why do you like Wonder Woman so much?"

And my personal favorite, "Mrs. Conrow, you kind of look like Wonder Woman with your black hair and skin color."

I even had a student raise her hand near the end of the day to tell me she was afraid my earring was about to fall out. It was. I love that they're watching out for me!

Since our theme is Building a World of Joy, I asked students what brought them joy today as a means of spacing out their packing up process. Pretty much everyone gave an answer about lunch or recess. But the last student I asked said, "Being in your class."

Even though I wore flat sandals today I had to kick off my shoes after the kids left. I was limping barefoot around my classroom getting ready for tomorrow. I think I have blisters forming... perhaps sneakers are in order for tomorrow.