I walk up the stairs trying to find the new weight room, the location of our school's "rapid" Covid-19 testing area. My nose swabbed by a woman donned in full personal protection equipment makes me think of a scene from a dystopian movie. As I exit, I see one of my students arrive with what [...]
Twenty years ago, I spent my senior year of high school at home. Tens of millions of students shared this situation, and for good reason—a global pandemic raged across the globe for fifteen months, ultimately killing over two million human beings. I remember the recovery wasn’t at all what my classmates and I had hoped [...]
In the beginning ... On this particular day in my classroom, you would have found a service dog standing faithfully by their owner as she explained how her dog detected her insulin levels. Or you might notice a laptop flashing intricate patterns of code while a robot zoomed up to you carrying a piece of [...]
The ABCs of Online Learning Assignments; lovingly and painstakingly created, yet woefully untouched. Bitmoji explosion; as if our bubbly, animated selves can cheerily force our students to really feel how much we care. Chatbox; little glimpses of classroom joy when students type, unprompted, Hi! How is everyone today? I just ate Cheetos! [...]
A question that I’m asked every morning by colleagues almost instinctively is “how you doing?” and without giving the question much thought, I always respond with “I’m good!” I know this is a superficial response but that question is a loaded one, and as teachers, we know that we’re all struggling right now. It is [...]