Thursday, March 12, 2020

Planning for the Inevitable

All core content teachers received two additional planning periods today while our admin team set up camp in the auditorium with two periods each of first 8th graders, then 7th graders and finally 6th graders. They gave us the gift of having time to prepare online lessons and establish priorities within our grade-level content planning groups. While at it, time to stoke and quell our fears, time to place our bets on when we’ll go out, and time to enjoy our valued colleagues.

Our school admin gets it.

Meanwhile, at home, I am resisting the urge to hoard. This means I am fatalistically trusting that supply lines for essential goods will remain open so that one of us will be healthy enough to retrieve what we absolutely need, unless Amazon can deliver it to our front stoop. On my neighborhood listserv there are already offers of help to the elderly and housebound among us, along with pledges of help from those of us who are able bodied and ready to assist with errands and household chores.

My neighborhood gets it.

The retirement home sent out a missive yesterday declaring all family and friend visitation off-limits as they hunker down and prepare to shutter for the duration of this virus. I applaud their decision, even if it means that my visits with Mom are off for the short term (unless she becomes terminally ill, at which point I will be allowed to go be with her). She turns 94 in May. If we all do this right, I will be there to celebrate with her.

The retirement home gets it.

Several hours ago, Governor Hogan of Maryland canceled all public schools for March 16th-27th. Will our governor, or local officials, follow suit?

Does APS get it? That remains to be seen.







2 comments:

  1. This is such a weird time for us in school districts and really the world. The phrase I've been hearing a lot is "we're in unchartered water". We're still waiting to see how everything plays out in my district as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The repetition in this piece is so powerful. I totally get it and so do you.

    ReplyDelete

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