Friday Reflections

Amanda Gorman wrote and delivered the perfect message for all of us.  The poem’s title is spot on “The Hill We Climb” - and its message is so fitting for schools. This week we moved up the hill when our kindergarten and first grade hybrid kids came back into our school -   their school .  A kindergarten girl came into the building and said "I've been waiting years for this day".   A first grade parent stopped and said we were thinking about the timeline and our daughter has spent more time in remote learning then actually in the school; parent and child were both excited to be back in school and the girl remembered most of the building. And, when teaching began, you began the delicate balance of teaching to the kids now in front of you and teaching to the Zoom kids.  You are the maestros conducting the wonderful orchestra of learning.  For sure, hybrid throws off your rhythm, rattles your securities, but what you accomplished this week is monumental! It’s y...

After reading each group’s notes on their “do’s” and “don'ts”, all of us pulled out the major points from the  EdWeek article    I wish we would’ve had more time with the article - because discussing ideas allows us to extend our thinking.  But as we find our way in these next months we will return to many of these insights.      Below are some thoughts expanding on some common threads we all pulled from the article: Do play to your strengths.  I hope you know your strength/s; your strong characteristics and your best practices will enable you to be successful. Do reach out - in other words, do not go it alone.  Share the work.  Share the wealth of what you know with each other.  Others may have tips/experience - ask...ask...ask. For help.  Do streamline your work load.  Most of us are in the midst of transition - kids on screen and kids in person.  What you're doing right now with remote learning with the entire clas...

On this last day of the week, I don’t want you to overburden your already overburdened hearts and minds with work related issues. Today, the Friday after Wednesday, the day the Presidential electoral votes were to be counted, we are all Americans. We have experienced the democracy that we have taken for granted be shaken to its roots.  And, it is unsettling, to say the least - to see the seat of our government taken over.   Isn’t there enough going on with our very lives threatened by the Covid?  Many of our families being jobless; many of our neighborhood businesses closing or close to closing; our school staff taxed to the max in terms of adapting to virtual leaning and then to hybrid.  Enough. We look at the events of this week and are aware more than ever we need to build bridges, not walls.  And, as educators, we have the tools and the mindset to build moral bridges that will unite not divide. This weekend take time to clear your heads and lift your spirits...

At our weekly PST meetings, I’ve been hearing more of concerns in dealing with students who are experiencing difficulty with staying on task. It goes without saying that our students and families are dealing with many obstacles in daily living - and the virus has exacerbated all of it.   And, our kids bring bring their problems to the virtual classroom. Here are two teachers who are meeting their students where they are at.  Their genuine care for these students is exactly what each student needs if the student is to be receptive to what is being taught.   Jess has come up with a ten minute practice that is helping one of her third graders become more actively engaged with remote learning.  This third grader spends the day with her grandmother; the grandmother is not able to effectively monitor her granddaughter’s screen time. So the little girl was not only muting her screen, but also disconnecting her audio and shutting off the video.  Her father wou...

  Happy Friday and welcome December! Are you aware of what is going on in the biggest school district In the country?  Here are the facts from a recent article from The Guardian. "New York City’s public schools will begin to reopen for in-person learning  on December 7th , starting with elementary schools for students whose parents agree to a weekly testing regimen for the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sunday. The schools were closed less than two weeks ago after the citywide rate of coronavirus tests coming back positive exceeded a 3% benchmark agreed to by the mayor and teachers’ union. It’s a new approach because we have so much proof now of how safe schools can be, De Blasio told reporters on Sunday, adding the 3% benchmark was being scrapped and pointing to research that shows young children appear to be less vulnerable to Covid-19."  What does this mean for us? I’m thinking that we could get back into school sooner than...

We are coming up on the last full week of October!   Praise the bridges that brought us thus far.  When I stop to think of my bridges, it’s special people who come to mind - the ones who helped me cross over to higher ground.   We have a bridge in our building - it’s Anna.  Anna has our severely handicapped three and four year old preschoolers.  Anna has fought and advocated to bring her students into the building.  She has pleaded not to wait until the entire school goes into the hybrid model.  She spoke up often and empowered us administrators to take the risk of moving her students to in person instruction.  Just soak in the image of Anna with her students.  You will see how significant Anna’s presence along with her wonderful pre school team in the lives of her kids - in the lives of her kids’s parents.  Kudos to you, Anna.  You and your team’s absence in the lives of your students was a huge void.  You built the ...

Whiplash, anyone? It seems that the longer we are into this pandemic, the longer the list of concerns and the list of questions. The big election, the big megaphones, the little voices all trying to break through the fog to move safely through daily personal and work life.  We want to pull the covers over our heads and not get out of bed; but, being responsible, caring, professional adults, hiding from reality is only occasionally an option. A special badge of heroism belongs to the preschool, kindergarten, 1st grade and special education staff who worked their tails off these past weeks to be prepared to teach hybrid next week. All of you stepped up – with the mixed emotions surrounding hybrid because that was what was needed.   You wanted to be meeting and smiling in person to little ones who surely would finally see you in person and greet you with warmth and excitement.  Probably more than any other single classes, the little ones need in person learning.  T...