One Day at a Time

As I sit down to write this, we have officially finished our first 9 weeks of school. Given everything that is happening in the world, I think that this is quite an amazing accomplishment that I never would have imagined. (I think I had three weeks in the office pool.) Our district's plan heading into the school year was tenuous. Not because of lack of planning or forethought, (many people worked their tail off to get ready) but because the information we were getting from the State and the County were constantly changing. Not to mention the trainwreck of the implementation of CDC and other government guidelines.  The guidelines and recommendations wouldn't always align and the implementation would sometimes be fuzzy and vague.  One day it would be one way and the next it would change. And then the next day it would change again. How were we supposed to teach under these circumstances? We took it one day at a time.

I can say without a doubt, that teachers across the board are working very hard and are exhausted. (me included)  It's not physical exhaustion, but a combination of mental, physical, and emotional. It's weird teaching during this time because you don't know if or when the principal is going to let you know that you need to quarantine because a student has tested positive. It's hard because, after 26 years in my own classroom, I have to push a cart into the classroom. (It's a late 21st century, Frankenstein model constructed using a computer cart and one and a half media carts that are zip-tied together.) It's a pain to push around because it drives like a Jumbo jet, listing to the side. It's sad because I want to offer kids a great studio experience, but can't because I literally can't get my cart into the room. It's exhausting to tell students to pull their masks up over their nose or put there mask on. (like a million times a day)

When I go home after school I am totally spent; physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I just want to sit in silence for a short time, just to sit...relaxing,  I try not to even think about anything and zone out. This time helps recenter my mind. After a while, I'm ready to get back and continue with life. It's one of the ways I cope. So far so good. 

Going into the next 9 weeks, I am going to continue living the " One Day at a Time" philosophy. I can't see into the future and I don't want to worry about the past. I can deal with this situation one day at a time and continue to enjoy the process. As one of the thousands of teachers across this country, I will continue to give 110% to the children I teach. It's what we do. And we will get it done "One Day at a Time.