Let's never talk about this year again

I like all the memes. They make me feel better. Like the one that says, "On Dec. 31, let's all have a shot and then never talk about this year again." I would hope that the effects of this year do not carry beyond Dec. 31, but sadly, that will not be.

I think I stopped writing because I got busy doing online school, then enjoying the weirdest summer ever, then doing online school again. So here are some highlights.

• We were all sent home and had to figure out how to online teach! 15 percent of my kids participated.
• I hiked more this summer than ever before.
• I learned to paddle board and went to Boyd Lake more than ever before! (once it opened).
• If you can call riding the board like a fat canoe "paddle boarding..."
• I also hung out with close friends more than usual (I guess I travel a lot in the summers...?)
• Gracie turned 1 on Aug. 31. She learned to crawl. And wave. And point. And stand up. All those cute things babies do. Also, she's the cutest baby on the planet.
• I went back to school, unpacked my classroom and set up, learned that my FTE was reduced and I was joining the virtual academy, repacked my classroom, and brought it all home to my storage unit.
• My AUNT decided to move to Colorado from Nebraska, hunted for a place with us all summer, bought a house in August and moved in at the end of September!
• Then I started online teaching.

And THAT. 

I did volunteer over my counterpart teacher at my middle school to join the online school because I drive an hour to work, and live with a baby and my parents. So the idea of all that being a little easier sounded nice.

Then reality set in and I was mildly bitter at first because I was told I'd be one of four ESL teachers teaching about 400+ K-12 students. And I was assigned K, 1, 2 and high school. And we had daily scheduled Zoom meetings. (I cried a lot) I had not expected the challenge set before me.

However, then, as one friend says, I put on my "big girl pants" and set to work making the best of it. I rotate with my CLD team planning for the littles. And I learned all about how awesome Loom is when making instructional videos. I think maybe 40 percent of my high school students are doing the work? About half that comes to Zoom meetings and the others just do the work in our online learning system. So I plan weekly for synchronous and asynchronous instruction. There's other little teachery things we have to do - paper work and learning plans. My biggest struggle is how to reach all those kids doing nothing. 

It's a lot of work and sometimes it gets overwhelming but then I take a break and decide that it's OK to take care of myself and only do what I can do! I get to run up and kiss Gracie between classes, and have lunch with my mom. And I go for walk around the block between classes so I keep my steps up. So it's a give and take of work and some rewards.

But holy crap, who could predict a year ago that this is where we would be! Last year was weird enough for me having Gracie, being on maternity leave, coming back for like two months of classes...

Now I wear masks in the grocery store and recoil when someone sniffles near me and walk 10 feet to work and, and I have a BABY!?!?

The pandemic has allowed me to spend more time with family, and not feel stressed out if I'm not making enough time for other people because it's just not a good idea to get together anyway! But I pray for the people who have suffered from it physically or been affected by it - lost jobs, salary cuts, housing issues, emotional tolls. This pandemic is leaving deep and lasting scars.