Zooming Right Along

Among our many teacher's lounge topics over the years were things "they" never taught us in teacher's college. First on my list from the first day of my career way back when, was how to deal with irate parents when they find the nephew of their older daughter's killer assigned the seat next to their younger daughter in my fifth grade class. My baptism into teaching came fast.

I later learned the skill of hunting for lice on a child's head using the eraser end of a pencil. There is a technique, let me assure you, an on-the-job one I learned from fellow teachers probably the second week of my teaching career.

And then there was Swish Day Wednesdays. Our school community was not on city water at the time and therefore our good old country water was not laced with fluoride. For the dental health of our children, once a week we mixed a powder with water and squirted one pump's worth into each student's disposable Dixie cup. The teacher beside me prepared the solution in the bottle, served her class, and sent to mine. The troublesome preparation was one task I learned early on I could pass along to the classroom helpers of the day, and they didn't like the chore any better than I did. The students didn't like the once a week minute of swishing the solution around their mouths any better than I did either. Yes. Me. In a spirit of comradery designed to encourage even the most reluctant swisher, I took a sip, swished for the required minute and spit it back into the cup, on full display in front of the class.

Not on the teacher preparation list.

Fortunately, when city water became available in homes, swishing became a thing of the past only to be replaced by new, never-taught-in-teacher's-college challenges.

Never in a million years would any college or university conceive of their teacher training including a unit on "How to teach during a pandemic." This turns the lice hunting and the swish mixing into child's play. This is serious. This is the new reality, and teachers have adapted beyond imagination. I am so proud of those in my chosen profession.

They have innovated. They have adapted. They have gone beyond what any professor in the ivory tower could have guessed possible. They've helped with food distribution. They've prepared assignments students can do at home that are related to the curriculum, not just busy work to keep them out of their parents' way. They have packets prepared and set on the sidewalk for parents to pick up, and included little personal notes of love and encouragement to the children. They've posted signs on the school windows in case the stay-at-home child just happens to be fortunate to get a break and drive by with the family. They have formed caravans, and escorted by the fire department, driven in one long parade of cars past every home of students on the bus routes. Best of all, they have used every resource available to virtually meet with each child several times a week, either individually or in a classroom setting.

All of this with a broken heart.

I was fortunate to do an author visit zoom with a first grade class in Florida. Wow, what an experience. I've done author visits in person, but this is a different ball game. This is meeting children in the privacy of their homes as they sit in their own comfort zones and participate in morning lessons with their classmates.

I read my book, Hoop Hike, to them.

The premise of this book is to go on a hike with a hoop in tow, like when I took my students on a field trip to the local state forest. One assignment my class always did there was to throw a hoop into the grass or leaves or creek and record what they found inside the hoop. The characters in my book went on the hike and made all kinds of interesting discoveries.

After we finished the book, the children's assignment was to take their own hoop hikes around their yard or neighborhood (if they could) and take a picture of what they found in their hoops. Those who didn't have hoops innovated, using a lamp shade frame or a belt, more possibilities to be creative thinkers!

When they got home, they were tally what they found, graph it, take a picture of their work, and submit to the teacher. First grade!

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and this corona year called for new and innovative ways to honor the teacher in each child's life. What I've seen on the internet through facebook and youTube brought tears to my eyes and a warmth to my heart that I never before experienced.

It took a plague to show teachers they are really, really appreciated.

Thank you to each and every one.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen