Eight Days, Eight Ways, Eight Rays: The First Hits and Misses of the School Year (243)

Eight days in. Faces on a screen. More than fill the screen. Empty classroom. Desks arranged, décor and optimization- yet absent of life. Except my own, a single heartbeat. First day of school passed, day one to day eight, came and went. There were lags and drops, frequent ones in fact. There were upgrades that caused malfunction. There were overloads and shutdowns.

Class sizes are unimaginable for in person learning, yet acceptable for virtual. A whirlwind of emotion, frustration, sheer exhaustion. Double planning, reshuffling, back-up plans. Plan C, D, E. Expecting connection issues, became necessary. Then hurricane warnings. Constant pandemic concerns. Parental expectations, teacher hopes and lessons, halted by software difficulties.

Eight days, eight ways, eight rays. There have been a lot of hiccups and burps. Planning for one thing, having to teach in completely new ways, constant pivoting. Having a mandatory template that works only part of the time. So then having to go back and update modules later. Double the workload. Questions less about content, more about the functionality of our on-line learning platform. Teachers shutting down.

Having to send daily videos of ways to get around the problems. On top of podcasts of daily lessons for those students who are absent, or are not required to come to synchronous classes. We follow the school schedule some will follow after September 8^th. Normalcy of bells. Yet, in every other way strange and cumbersome. Currently all virtual- yet in a week 30% will be returning to the building.

We still have to prepare for both Face to Face and Virtual. Again, double the work.

We found out our on-line platform has more glitches than it did in the spring. More connection issues. More flaws that do not allow us to link documents and share slide shows. So again, we have to provide alternative ways for accessibility. More work. All the while, balancing large class sizes, planning engaging lessons for the virtual world, and staying connected with our students and parents.

Eight things that did not work according to plan: devices, software, accessibility, linking documents, having time to plan multiple alternative activities, getting through a class without Zoom dropping students, having opportunities to talk individually with every student, really getting to know student names, I saw them on the screen in Zoom, but faces, I need time to learn their faces.

But, educators are quick on their feet- actually chairs in this case. We made adjustments, found new ways to link documents, discovered different ways to communicate efficiently with parents and students (without overloading them), engaged students with more mobile activities at home, kept things fun and interesting with 50 kids on Zoom, and maintained emotional balance, for the most part anyway. Those took a little longer than expected. The sheer volume of what teachers have to do, hinders what teachers want to do. Balance is a struggle, but after eight days of classes, I am in the swing of things.

It is important not to freak out when technology runs amok. It will. You have to expect that things are going to go wrong, and have several back up plans. Be patient, not just with students but with yourself. This is a whole new way of teaching. I thought I was prepared and then technology reminded me I am at its mercy. I had a few meltdowns after a Zoom meeting ended. I have six Zoom meetings every day. 

But I adjusted. I emailed stuff that our platform could not open. I had a constant dialogue with students on Zoom but also in email and on the school virtual platform. I kept things calm and focused. Everything turned out okay. I just had to remind myself to breathe.

Every day I say to students as the opening theme song ends and everyone has been admitted from the waiting room- "Lets see what hurdles we will face today? Let’s brace for take-off. There will be bumps, but imagine the view once we reach orbit. I am excited- are you? Let’s do this." 

As many misses as there have been with technology there have been more hits. More moments of laughter and smiles. More discussions and engagement. More connection with students. But there are almost 50 in three of my classes and we are encouraged not to use breakout rooms on Zoom. Further adjustment needed.

We have created podcasts, drawn sketch notes and made Google Doodles, had a scavenger hunt or two, created raps about cell theory, shared our mindfulness strategies, learned about each other’s culture with personalized culture slides. I am trying not to just have them complete notes and watch videos. I am trying to keep them on their toes. Orbit is a cool place to be, but they also need structure and notes are part of that structure.

Tomorrow will be day nine. Our last five days of school before my schedule becomes ½ face to face students in my classroom and ½ virtual in my on-line synchronous classroom.

I am excited to have some of my students back in the classroom, but most will still be virtual. Bouncing back and forth between the two formats, at first, will be a challenge. But I accept the challenge. I hear the engines roaring and feel the capsule vibrating into a rhythm – I am excited for the adventure that awaits. I am leaning into the blast of energy. The acceleration. Launch.

But I am also on overload and the thought of another change, is heavy. 

I feel the heft of the moment. I sense the excitement of students. The fear of parents. The worry in my heart of getting sick. But I also have an overwhelming certainty, that this is what I need to do- this is what my students need. This is what I was born to do. 

And these, well these eight days, eight ways, eight rays- they are the power that keeps me airborne and on the right trajectory for a very unique school year. I know the turbulence will be great, but the view, its going to be spectacular.