Day 0: School Closure & Quarantine Starts
Since the end of February when the Coronavirus claimed the first life in Washington State we have been sitting, waiting, and watching to see how fast it was going to spread. We all wondered how big would this impact our lives.
Less than a week a later, I had found myself in a gym watching a robotics competition. An event I really thought was going to be cancelled but instead powered through with lots of extra precautions. I was washing and sanitizing my hands to the point they were red and raw and so aware of every cough and sneeze around me trying to not touch high traffic surfaces or my face only to learn how grossly often I stick my fingers in my nose like a toddler.
The following week, I got a cold and everyone was now paranoid about me and my cough, but I never got a fever. Then we found everything slowly being cancelled then completely shut down. First, the rest of the robotics season, then all after school activities, then the rest of the spring sports seasons, and on Friday the 13th the Governor pulled the plug on school until at least April 24. That day it also snowed... because why not?
The next day Spokane got news that it had 3 confirmed cases. Each one I had at least a distant connection to but one who had been at the very competition I had been at only 7 days earlier. Now I was second guessing the cold I had and whether a fever was really the tell tale symptom to look for. Had I powered through when I shouldn't have and now exposed others? I panicked and had to also work to communicate this information to my team and their families. Thankfully I have an amazing Principal who got me in touch with the people who do this in my district and I talked to the director of nursing and was told that if I hadn't been within 6' of the infected person for 10+ minutes my chances of contracting it was very low. Phew. Social awkward introvert skills for the win!
Last weekend was a whirlwind of uncertainty, panic, and frustration. No one knew what this would have to look like for us or for our students. Would the district expect us to deliver new content and grade it knowing that not everyone has the same resources at home? Did our contract guarantee we would continue to be paid? Would we have to make up the time and go far in to the summer? Would we even come back this year? How would students who need school for so many things be taken care of?
Finally, Sunday evening our District and our Union gave us guidance as to where we were going to start. It wasn't super detailed because there hadn't been time to work all the details yet. That would happen as we go. But it was super clear that no matter what Monday, our last day in class, would have to be used to not just give expectations for how students should work while out but to also support them socially and emotionally. This was going to be tough on everyone not just the vulnerable populations which now had expanded to our seniors who were feeling like they were getting a huge part of their life experiences ripped from them.
I took the opportunity to talk with my Freshman about how I was there for them even if it was digitally and that if they needed an adult for any reason that I was only an email or remind message away and that I would be checking in on them every week for more than how Khan Academy was going.
For my AP Calculus BC students who are far older and most seniors, I pulled out my baggies of white and black beads. I had done this activity last year and it went really well. Essentially, every kid gets a black bead and a slip of paper. They are told to fill the black bead up with all of their stress (it was funny to watch the kids mime sending the stress to the bead) and to write their stress on the paper. When done they would trade the paper and bead in for a white, stress free bead, and I would hold on to their stresses and wear their beads. The white bead they could wear if they wanted to remind them that I was carrying their stresses with me. The symbolism is heavy and right now it was what they all needed. Even the coolest jock in the back didn't hesitate to start writing.
After school I worked until 8PM trying to figure out how I was going to get AP Calculus information to my students since our AP Test is on as planned for now. And get my new work area organized. I have a lot of work to keep me busy this week. I am definitely not on a vacation despite many of my students asking me what I was going to do on "break"/"vacation." I am definitely earning my continued salary.
I am going to try and blog about the madness that will be coming from my quarantine classroom over the next few weeks.
The following week, I got a cold and everyone was now paranoid about me and my cough, but I never got a fever. Then we found everything slowly being cancelled then completely shut down. First, the rest of the robotics season, then all after school activities, then the rest of the spring sports seasons, and on Friday the 13th the Governor pulled the plug on school until at least April 24. That day it also snowed... because why not?
The next day Spokane got news that it had 3 confirmed cases. Each one I had at least a distant connection to but one who had been at the very competition I had been at only 7 days earlier. Now I was second guessing the cold I had and whether a fever was really the tell tale symptom to look for. Had I powered through when I shouldn't have and now exposed others? I panicked and had to also work to communicate this information to my team and their families. Thankfully I have an amazing Principal who got me in touch with the people who do this in my district and I talked to the director of nursing and was told that if I hadn't been within 6' of the infected person for 10+ minutes my chances of contracting it was very low. Phew. Social awkward introvert skills for the win!
Last weekend was a whirlwind of uncertainty, panic, and frustration. No one knew what this would have to look like for us or for our students. Would the district expect us to deliver new content and grade it knowing that not everyone has the same resources at home? Did our contract guarantee we would continue to be paid? Would we have to make up the time and go far in to the summer? Would we even come back this year? How would students who need school for so many things be taken care of?
Finally, Sunday evening our District and our Union gave us guidance as to where we were going to start. It wasn't super detailed because there hadn't been time to work all the details yet. That would happen as we go. But it was super clear that no matter what Monday, our last day in class, would have to be used to not just give expectations for how students should work while out but to also support them socially and emotionally. This was going to be tough on everyone not just the vulnerable populations which now had expanded to our seniors who were feeling like they were getting a huge part of their life experiences ripped from them.
I took the opportunity to talk with my Freshman about how I was there for them even if it was digitally and that if they needed an adult for any reason that I was only an email or remind message away and that I would be checking in on them every week for more than how Khan Academy was going.
For my AP Calculus BC students who are far older and most seniors, I pulled out my baggies of white and black beads. I had done this activity last year and it went really well. Essentially, every kid gets a black bead and a slip of paper. They are told to fill the black bead up with all of their stress (it was funny to watch the kids mime sending the stress to the bead) and to write their stress on the paper. When done they would trade the paper and bead in for a white, stress free bead, and I would hold on to their stresses and wear their beads. The white bead they could wear if they wanted to remind them that I was carrying their stresses with me. The symbolism is heavy and right now it was what they all needed. Even the coolest jock in the back didn't hesitate to start writing.After school I worked until 8PM trying to figure out how I was going to get AP Calculus information to my students since our AP Test is on as planned for now. And get my new work area organized. I have a lot of work to keep me busy this week. I am definitely not on a vacation despite many of my students asking me what I was going to do on "break"/"vacation." I am definitely earning my continued salary.
I am going to try and blog about the madness that will be coming from my quarantine classroom over the next few weeks.
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