Determined to Succeed

Since the last "serious" post about the virus and how it's affecting our lives, etc. I have received more information about what the rest of the year might look like academics-wise.  On Thursday, the governor of our state announced that school buildings will remain closed for the rest of the year.  Students will acquire the rest of the school year's teaching through distance learning or online.

Next week, I will be informed of a day where I have to go to school to find out what exactly I'll be expected to do.  I am already trying to come up with creative ways to get across the point of my remaining topics to my students since I won't be in a classroom setting with them.  It's slightly disappointing since we were initially told that these three weeks (from March 16th through April 6th) would count as an "extended spring break" and now it seems like we'll have to make up these days at the end of May and into June.

Living in a rural part of the country, state, and even my current county, this absence from being in the actual school building is not as simple as uploading lessons to an electronic platform and expecting all students to be able to access that information equally.  This is why it's so important to come up with various material that students could access online or have paper copies available for those without adequate access to the internet or to a device that can access the internet.  Over the next week or so, we'll be given information about how we'd go about making paper copies of information and how we'd get that material to students while maintaining the appropriate social distancing regulations.

Although I've written about 95% of my lesson plans for the rest of the year, I will need to set aside some time for myself to tweak those plans to eliminate any activity where students had to use their textbooks.  I'll also need to search for alternate activities to put in place where I currently have links to educational video clips with quiz questions, etc.  I need to be able to guarantee that all students will be able to learn the same standard but perhaps in different ways (i.e., some online classes for those with internet, and some paper packets for those without).  I will also try to have some Zoom calls for whole-group tutoring sessions where students could ask questions and I'd be able to answer them in real-time.  I'm also going to revamp my plans and try to incorporate activities that my students can do outside, or assign entertaining reading passages to keep them in the habit of reading for comprehension.

It will all be a learning experience where we'll develop new skills.  Skills that we'll probably never have to use again because good Lord willing, we'll never be in this same predicament again.  One can only hope.

I'm determined to use this situation for good.  I am known to my students as the positive teacher.  My classroom is a positive-only zone.  No negative talk is allowed without a discussion showing the positives in the situation.  This goes for world viewpoints as well as how students view themselves.  It it a desire of mine that all of my students learn to appreciate who they really are and try to only speak positively about others.  Therefore, I plan to keep this role while we navigate online learning.  I am hoping that with Aaron's help, I can add in a few self-made YouTube video clips where I speak a positive little message to them and help them to remember to seek the bright side of this situation.

At the end of this very odd and extended school year, I want to look back on it with a joy that says "I tried.  Even when the doors were closed and I had to re-do work that I had already done, I did not lose sight of the mission and I did not give up-- on myself, this career, or my students."  Usually, when I firmly set my mind on something, I succeed.  This is no different.  I am determined to succeed and not just by limping across the finish line.  I am determined to be a major success at online teaching and have my students be glad that they get to take my class.  Sometimes, half of this battle is beginning with the reminder that I truly care about my students and want them to succeed in school & afterwards.  That viewpoint will not and just simply cannot change during this global discomfort.

I will find the balance between creating and altering lesson plans.  I will find the balance between teaching my own children at home while teaching over 150 students in an online capacity.  I will find the balance between schedules and unstructured playtime for my family.  I am just determined to succeed.


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba