I almost cried when my students ran into my room and gave me a hug on the second day of school. Pre Covid, this act of affirmation would have felt very rewarding. To be honest, I can't fully put into words how it made me feel. I find myself on the verge of weeping as I type this. I started this blog as an insight to what teaching is like during Covid. At first I felt empowered. I felt I was a pioneer in the age virtual education. I was helping so many around me navigate the virtual world. Unfortunately, this was very short lived. As many of you know, I moved from Minneapolis, MN to Alexandria, VA. I began teaching my favorite grade, 3rd. I loved my school. I loved my coworkers. It was crazy. Don't get me wrong. I was still navigating a new city, a new home, a new career, a new roommate, new friends, and a whole lot of new. Yes, I was very hopeful and excited. My students were perfect. Although I was on the phone with parents sometimes at 10 at night, I did what I could to hel
Where were you when you first heard of Covid-19? From what I can remember, it was a late night Twitter post that caught my eye. Here we are now and it has had major impacts on a global scale. Later, we heard of mass societal quarantines and other significant changes starting two to three weeks ago. For example, here in Minnesota MDE decided schools were going to stay open, while other states like Iowa were closing up shop. Wisconsin, the day after the decision MN decided to stay open, announced they would be closing schools starting Wednesday March 18th. THEN the next day Minnesota announced they would be closing as well. Talk about chaos through mixed signals! Luckily, the principal at my school is a science guy. He has a background in physics, and has global connections due to his Turkish background. Interesting guy. Early on he pulled us all in for a meeting and shared with us that it is not a matter of if we close, but when we close. He has been very transparent about