April 04th, 2020

A Letter to My Colleagues

We CAN Do Hard Things #bettertogether

I was looking back at the pix of a faculty meeting Zoom yesterday and I got a little teary-eyed just looking at the pix of so many of us "together."

I also found these screenshots that I took throughout the week - enjoy the first (please don't take offense - I know it's WAY more serious than the cooties) 🤣, feel great about the second 🥰!

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I also read A.J. Juliani's blogpost that called this not distance learning/education, not e-Learning, but "emergency remote learning"  🧐 - and I think that's a much better way to describe it.  It's HARD, it's really HARD, it takes loads more time than "just teaching."  It's finding and managing content, finding and managing ways to present/communicate content, and finding ways to track student learning in a way we've never had to before.

But guess what - we CAN do hard things.  Are we stressed and worried? YES.  Are parents stressed and worried? YES.  Are kids stressed and worried?  YES.

However - and these are BIG!  Are kids learning?  YES - a resounding YES, YES, YES - and this is all due to you providing structure and lessons, and communicating with parents and students at least zillion times a week - and HUGE kudos to our tech specialist and to our parents who've been thrusting in new roles.

Are kids eating? YES! Thanks to our principal, cafeteria manager, our superintendent, and so many others - thank you!!

Are kids feeling loved and missed and valued?  YES, thanks to all of the methods you have in place to provide them with contact and a means of communication.  YES, thanks to our strong social media presence and the wonderful videos we've shared.  Y-E-S.

If you are like me and wondering how you can possibly keep up this pace for the next several weeks, I feel your pain and share your worry.  Hang in there - we're all doing the best we can, we're all in this together, we can do this, we can do hard things, and we are truly #bettertogether - but remember take time for yourself this weekend.  

I miss you all - your kind hearts, your smiles, how you all lift me up, and your passion for teaching and taking care of our kids.

#bettertogether