Reflections on Year #37

(It took me awhile to wrap my head around how the year ended)   
     Just when you think you've seen it all....
     Year thirty seven began with all new furniture and some new supplies! With the help of my two AMAZING classroom aides, we were able to create a warm and welcoming learning environment for the incoming four-year olds. Calm colors and light covers made our classroom almost cozy.
     In our care, there were twenty-two children. Most of them had been together the year before, in the half-day, three-year old class. Some of them had gone to the same daycare for most of their lives.  Assimilating a handful of new children into the mix was no problem at all!
     We were all so busy! How could you not be with twenty two four-year olds? But man, did we have fun! My classroom aides are truly amazing at reading my moods and body language and can joke me out of almost anything. It was not uncommon to see all three of us laughing about something. Truly, one of the best school years in my career.
     ....then Covid happened....
     I dismissed my kids on Friday, March 13th, with a hug and a "have a great weekend." Little did I know that would be the last time I'd see many of them in person. We were just one week shy of Spring Break. Then everything changed.
     In the blink of an eye, we went from in-class learning to "distance learning." Let me just say this now: I did not go to school and obtain two degrees to teach children from behind a computer screen. It stinks! With the help of my PreK team and the parents, we made it work. Was it ideal? Absolutely not! Did I lose some families along the way? I sure did. It was the best we could do within the time permitted. So I recorded myself reading stories from our curriculum, posted an alphabet/reading activity and a math activity once a week, and just for fun, scavenger hunts each week. The parents did really well and adapted to being their child's teacher. The PreK Team made a decision to do a video chat with each of our kids every week, just so we could put our eyes on them and really check in with them. My class also did three Zoom class sing-alongs. Those were so fun and it was fun to see the kids see each other!
     In a nutshell, Year Thirty Seven was good and we adapted. It will be interesting to see how things go this next school year. Just like each year, it's a wait-and-see game.