March 28, 2020

Today I ventured out in public for the first time in a week and a half. I was running out of creative ways to cook with odds and ends in the pantry and figured I needed to stock up on some things. I arrived at the store as they opened and other people had the same idea I had and the store filled up rather quickly. I spoke with a really nice elderly man today. That was nice considering it was the only other adult I have spoken to in person other than my parents and siblings.

We received notice yesterday that school would remain closed through April 24th. Unfortunately, I think that my district is just delaying the inevitable. I hate to say that, but we have already been cheated this year. Dangling hope in front of us that we will return is not appreciated. While I hate the process, I would like to just go in and pack up my classroom. It would make cleaning the building that much easier for our custodians.

Week 1 of distance learning is down in the history books. I successfully hosted a zoom meeting with students each day at the same time and had a few students excited to join. Seeing their faces made my heart both happy and sad. Happy to see them, as they are my children and my normal and I love them more than they would ever know. Sad as to I know deep in my heart that we will not be together again, and I will not see them in person until August.

I miss my teaching partners, even though we text all day long and meet virtually for lunch every day. It isn’t the same. I miss other staff that I see on a daily basis. I miss the friendly smiles in the hallways, the morning huddles, and dare I say I miss morning and afternoon duty!

Most of all I miss my kids. I miss the crazy stories that they tell. I miss the hugs, the high-fives, the special handshakes that we created just for us. I miss saying “Hello Beautiful People!” I miss our inside jokes, they eye-rolls from students, and yes, even the TikTok dances. I miss seeing them interact with each other. I miss seeing their faces when they learn something new. I miss my kids.

Growing up in the 90s I was a huge fan of Boy Meets World on Disney. I was oh-so-excited when I purchased Disney plus to find that the entire series was included. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. To say Mr. Feeny was a role model is silly, but true. I wanted to have relationships with my students the way Mr. Feeny had with Corey, Shawn, and Topanga (even Eric!). I have strived for that as a teacher. In the series finale, Mr. Feeny ends in his original classroom standing in front of empty desks and announces “I love you all. Class dismissed.” While I told my students this before we left for spring break just 2 weeks ago, and I tell them that when we sign off of our zoom meetings, I find today that I feel like Mr. Feeny when he said good bye to his students for the last time. While I know I will see them again in person, it seems like it will be so far into the future.

I hope they all know that I love and miss them terribly. I hope they all know that I pray for them each day and I hope that through this experience we all grow to appreciate the little things in life, no matter how annoying (TikTok lol)