To the parent making impossible decisions as the start of school approaches...
I feel you. This is impossible. As a parent, spring distance learning felt like the 7th ring of hell and I am here to tell you every educator in the country felt the same pain. But we need to all acknowledge some truths. That was not distance learning. That was not caused by a lack of training. That was not caused by a system that failed due to incompetencies. What we all felt was a sudden, unexpected, unprecedented global trauma caused by a pandemic. The world was turned upside down overnight, without warning, without any way to prepare and that left us all (especially our kids) spinning in disbelief. Even the best distance learning system would have failed under those conditions and here is why. 1 - Children cannot learn when they are in a state of trauma. There is a strong, ever growing body of evidence indicating all of the reasons a child cannot access academic learning when they are in a heightened state of stress. When schools were abruptly shut down with no warning, our kids were processing their own grief over the loss of their normal and were processing their anxieties over global issues that are far to large for children to process all at once. We were all experiencing the same global trauma. As a teacher here is what I saw every single day during our daily zoom call.
All kids thrive on routine. This was ripped away from them suddenly and unexpectedly. Again, we all woke up one morning to the news that school buildings were closed and our reality was now some new uncharted world that felt like chaos. My kids missed their routine. They spent August-March learning and perfecting a routine that worked for them and their style of learning inside of a classroom. They knew exactly what to expect and when. They had made leaps and bounds of growth... and then BAM- covid threw a brick wall in front of them. They now had to learn a new routine somehow set by one adult who somehow had to coordinate 30 other family schedules during a global pandemic in which every. single. family was struggling to make things work at home, while working, with kids, who were expected to learn through a computer. I offered resources and suggestions to set schedules that resembled some sense of normal but there simply was not a way to meet every family's needs and to make a consistent and coherent plan that worked for every family. Families were exhausted, they were scared, they were fighting through what we now call Corona-fatigue and the emotional chaos caused by the rug being ripped out from underneath us without warning. We were all thrown into an impossible situation. There was no was schooling was going to survive through it. So as educators, administrators across the country came up with the best on the fly solutions that they could to meet the various needs of families who were now collectively facing the crisis caused by the pandemic shut down.
How did anyone expect all of that to go WELL in spring. Of course it failed. But parents, I assure you, this isn't spring learning any more. I see parent's now fleeing their public school for online schools or homeschooling options with an expectation of coming back to in person learning when things get safe but here are some realities to consider before you do that. The assumption is that spring failed because of teachers. Not because of the collective trauma we all experienced. Before you do that I urge you to consider the following.
Regardless of what you choose, know that you are making the best decision for your family. It is a hard, impossible decision to make. We are all doing our best and when this is all over... our kids will be okay.
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July 2024
"The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see." - Alexandra K. Trenfor |