jagovino This year marks my TWENTIETH year of teaching (wow, I feel old)! However, in my twenty years of being in the middle school classroom, I have never had to deal with the stress of not knowing whether school will even start after Labor Day or what school will look like. My school closed abruptly in March, before most other districts did, and we thought we would be back after the initial 14-day quarantine. Little did we know we wouldn’t see our students in person for the rest of the school year. Adjusting to online learning was difficult for everyone- teachers, students, parents, siblings, but we all stepped up to the plate and made it work. After-all, isn’t that what I teach my students in my US History classroom- that America is the country that always makes it work! But now, as I sit at my computer on this brutally hot July day, I am not sure if, when or how I will be going back to school in September and that is more frightening than the usual back to school jitters we all experience as August approaches.
There has been a lot of talk about schools re-opening in the Fall and a lot of backlash. Some states have already decided to keep schools closed and continue with distance learning for the time being. I work in Westchester county, so we are waiting for the directives from Governor Cuomo and our district to make the right decision. But what is the right decision? We all want to be back in the classroom in the Fall but at what cost? My job as a teacher is inherently an interactive experience. I love being in front of my students and being able to answer their questions, see their enthusiasm as they learn something new, and work with them to uncover ways of learning and thinking. Without this, my job is incomplete. The students need school as well. They need to see their friends, to run around in PE class, to play their instruments, and to practice a foreign language. How can this be done in a world where we are all expected to stand six feet apart and wear masks? This is why I am torn. I want to be back in the classroom, but I want the classroom I am familiar with- the one where my students are laughing and sharing and collecting information in a free, uninterrupted space. I am not sure my classroom will ever look the same.
As a parent, I also have apprehension about my own kid’s going back to school. It’s one thing to ask a middle or high school student to keep a mask on and wash their hands. It’s a completely other thing to ask a 7-year-old to do the same. My boys can barely stand wearing their masks for longer than 10 minutes at a time- how will they keep it on all day at school? Then there is the fact that I saw my own kids falling behind in the curriculum without the guidance and support of their teachers by their side. I want them to be in the classroom with their friends and their teacher and to continue to flourish in elementary school, but at what cost? Do I feel comfortable knowing they might be exposed to the virus while going to school? How will I handle it if I go back to work full time and they are home 50% of the time? There are so many questions and so many unknowns and for a person who likes to plan, this is all very hard on me.
In the end, as a teacher and a parent I want us all to be back in school. But I also want life to go back to the way it was and I don’t think that will ever happen. For now, I just want answers- I want to know what schools are planning for September and make a decision from there. These are unprecedented times for sure and we are all feeling the stress of the what-ifs. I hope that my school district, my Union and my government can make the right decision for all of us taking into consideration both our physical and mental well beings. For now, I will just continue to online shop and pretend that none of this happening until reality strikes and my school makes the final call. Nordstrom sale, here I come….
What are your thoughts about kids going back to school? I’d love to hear from you….
