Like many teachers out there, I’m still adjusting to the new reality of working remotely. Whatever you are going through – it’s real. So I wanted to write a blog post that hopefully comforts all you educators out there going through the same emotional swings and maybe even helps you re-calibrate and put things into perspective a bit. Here’s a list of my personal ups and downs so far. 

1. Everyday our class meets for an online live lesson on Zoom. Everyday it stresses me out to get ready for the lesson, and everyday as soon as the lesson starts, my heart is lifted and I am reminded why I do this. I love these kids.
2. Yesterday when I called a parent to see how everything was going, she started to cry and said, “I just don’t think I can do this anymore.”
3. Our neighborhood is doing a Bear Hunt. Folks put bears (or drawings of bears, or whatever stuffed animal they have) in their windows. When families take a walk through the neighborhood, they can see bears everywhere! We’ve been doing this for over a week and every day we see at least one new bear. I really love this. Other neighborhoods are doing this with hearts or rainbows.
4. Read alouds online aren’t as great as real life but read alouds build community. Period.
5. My toddler demands all of my attention, leaving very little time to help the families of my students.
6. I’ve learned what partnership with families really means. It means calling, texting, working out the kinks, and doing it all together so the children in our lives can have the best possible outcomes. 
7. This week my toddler learned how to jump and say delicious and I was there for both.
8. Some days I feel like I can’t do this anymore. Some days I can’t imagine how we’ll ever go back to the old way of doing things.
9. Last week we had a dance party as a class. It was everything. I highly recommend this.
10. Sometimes the “best possible learning situation” means a very different thing for each family. Differentiation is on a whole new level now that we are online learning.
11. Starting this week we will host a mystery reader every Wednesday. We are inviting all teachers and family members who don’t get to see the kids to hop online and surprise us with a book. I can’t wait for this to be up and running!
12. Routines work for me. They don’t work for everyone. Some people don’t know what will work for them. This is hard.
13. Mister Rogers is quoted as saying, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” The helpers have the hardest job of all – and we need them a lot right now.

Wherever you are – whether alone, with family, sick, healthy, doing planks or barely drinking enough water – I wish you the best and send thoughts of rainbows, hearts, and bears.

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— Pearson PreK12 (@PearsonPreK12) March 23, 2020