One year ago we had a meeting after school to talk about how the week before going on Spring Break would look due to rising concerns about Covid-19. How would we distance our students? What would meal delivery look like? Just get us through the coming week and then students would be on Spring Break and our building would be deep cleaned.
One year ago, I told my students that I loved them and I would see them on Monday for some St. Patrick's Day fun and learning. Little did I know that would be the last time I would see them in person (something I still struggle with).
One year ago I had set up leprechaun traps that students had made at home, as a family engagement activity, to catch that pesky little leprechaun. This activity was never competed.
One year ago, the whole district met in learning teams to determine how we would move forward with Remote Learning. What would it look like? How would we make sure ALL students had access to instruction? How would we know our kids were safe? The PreK team met together and came up with an amazing plan for connecting with our kids through Facebook, a platform the families of our students were already familiar with.
One year ago The Dream Team (my classroom paras and I) signed up to help sack breakfasts and lunches for families to pick up, curbside, at the school, to feed the students during the shut-down and make sure they had access to healthy meals. Selfishly, it was a way for the Dream Team to stay connected, since we wear all reeling from the abrupt shut-down of the district buildings.
If I'd only known, I would have hugged those sweet children harder and longer. I would have tried to give them more memories to carry forward. I would have tried to help them feel less scared and uncertain of all of the changes that were coming. It was too abrupt. To this day, it's still hard to wrap my head around. That it all happened on Friday the 13th is not lost on me.
