Optimistic is quite literally my name.
If you're a Disney buff, you may recall the Hayley Mills film which shares my first name. Pollyanna was an orphan, daughter of two deceased missionaries, who taught her to play The Glad Game - more on that later
When I first heard the rumor of school closings, I wasn't incredibly concerned. After all, I'd grown up in central Florida with schools and businesses sometimes closing for weeks in the aftermath of hurricanes. It would be more of the same. I drew up a few contingency schedules for lesson plans and got ready to catch up with paperwork, classroom craft prep and maybe even some house work.
Then, the news of more than a month of closure hit. . .
Still, this over-comer's mind spun with plans while organizing papers into tidy, color-coded folders with attached plans. I spent late nights and early mornings learning about online teaching platforms and making weeks' worth of goodie bags, stickers, hands-on learning activities and more for all my students. I spent half of Spring Break whirring away in my quiet classroom determined to fully prepare to help all my students and their families succeed.
Teachers, principal and staff all bustled about the school helping each other and sharing cheerful encouragement and sympathy over how much we missed our students. Faces stared at screens and lenses as we all learned and shared technological skills most of us never expected to need.
Sure, I'd entertained ideas of a digital classroom during the summer. I'd met retired teachers that taught online for community colleges or students in other countries. However, everyday life filled with my precious pupils' faces lighting up with comprehension, grinning with glee and sometimes mischief distracted me from the pursuit. When your life's work already brings you joy and fulfillment, why go searching for something else?
Funny, how sometimes, what God allows into our life can make us grow in areas we never knew we needed.
The first week, I stumbled my way through learning three programs and two platforms I'd only ever watched content on. I revisited my college horrors of video taping myself, cringing as I reviewed the tape, ant then re-recording only to discover my tape never started recording. Humbling,God was definitely pruning away some hubris.
By week two, I felt like I was living out one of Isaac Asimov's dystopian futures where human interaction was all by screen. People donning protective devices before venturing into the dangerous general population. (Could someone please invent his discrete nostril breathing filters to remove all microbes and pollution?) I also managed to sprain my hip and had an adventure finding medical professionals willing to see me in person rather than by video appointment.
That mishap actually made me thankful I was teaching from a chair although my desk/chair combo had to be exchanged for the recliner/coffee table. (Thank goodness for wireless keyboard and mouse!) Those "Safer at Home" guidelines sure came in handy while I was attempting R.I.C.E (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) and taking some strong meds.
Today, as I suavely graded and returned assignments in my Google Classroom and recorded a narrated slideshow teaching all about yaks in PowerPoint, I realized...
Teaching was never about a classroom. No matter how many hours I'd dedicated to crafting the perfect learning environment. Teaching is about growing and groaning and tooth and grit and determination to master new skills and knowledge.
So come what may in news, announcements, contagions and even dystopian tales,
I'm gonna keep on being optimistic with a big old grin.
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