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.