Today is the second of February 2024.
Let's talk about teaching.
I have COVID. This is 2024, so the virus shouldn't seem "new", but I was told by the federal government and the news media that this shit was over a long time ago, so ...
I am a teacher. 26 years and counting.
"Back in the day" ... we had some pandemic days off, but since COVID "isn't a thing anymore", I just took sick days.
I was (and am still) sick, but that's not the point here.
I taught (from home) all day for three days, even though my school district paid for a substitute teacher.
I had to be on task at 7:50, when the school called or texted all three days, because the substitute teacher wouldn't listen to my students.
My students know what's up. I can write a sub plan very well. just not when I am a covid-cripple, and I can't go back to the school to write things down for a substitute teacher.
So I do what I do. I post to all my classrooms, and I tell (and then show) them what to do. Here's my two cents: the students are going to do what I posted. If they don't, they will lose points. My students and I have come to an understanding at this point in the year, and that understanding is that our class will proceed, together, towards a goal.
Almost all of my students know what's going on. If they don't come to school or listen to me, that's on them. These kids don't like school. Nobody likes school. Some kids are good at it, and some kids don't care, and some kids are so broken by what's outside of school that they don't care about a stupid worksheet. They are trying to live. They are trying to breathe.
And yet ... these kids came TOGETHER when I was down with the sickness. They have overcome a bossy substitute to rise to their power. They have learned how to record themselves AND protect their identity as they share presentations from school, because I cannot be there. They are helping each other every day. They are communicating in a way which I have not seen yet all year. My sickness has somehow created a bridge between clique-y high school students. I love them today.
(Having said that, the show choir or the band probably gave me covid, ((they call it "kennel cough")) so they need to wear a mask or get away from me.)
Peace and love
