One day, my students and I left school to go on spring break.
And we never came back.
We parted ways on March 13, my 8th graders and I, some of us looking forward to family cruises, visits with family, or, in my case, redoing my whole bathroom in a week. “Can’t wait to hear about everything you guys did!” I said as the bell rang at the end of the day. “See you next week!”
But when next week came, the day we were supposed to return to school, our governor closed all of the schools in the state. We wrapped up March and moved to voluntary online learning for April and May. What will happen at the end of August is anyone’s guess. Will we return to the classroom? Will I teach entirely online, or will we find some kind of hybrid model?
At first, I was desperate to return to the classroom
Accelerated learning could be a whole new ballgame
If students aren’t bound by being in a particular classroom with same-age peers, the possibilities for advancement are endless. Students could build their schedules around their academic needs instead of their age, allowing for gifted and motivated students to move ahead in standards and content and others to build academic intervention courses into their schedules.
Yes, all of the teachers and school administrators you know are currently in panic mode. This is a scary and unprecedented time. Maybe my Pollyannaish “bright side” attitude is annoying, but I can’t stop thinking about it. What if our school systems’ response to this health crisis changes things forever, and for the better? I, for one, am beyond excited to see what our talented teachers come up with when faced with these challenges — and I hope I’m not the only one.
