Checking In

I didn’t blog on Saturday because I didn’t know that it was Saturday.

This is like summer break except we can’t go out to lunch or shopping or visit family or visit friends or do anything outside of our house.

So when we’re on summer break and we say we don’t know what day it is, we’re actually kidding because most of us have things like:

**Meet the girls for lunch on Tuesday at noon

**Sister arrives Thursday at 4pm

**Leave for Vegas on Saturday

You know what I mean?

But now we don’t have that.

Nope.

Instead, we have a Pandemic. And some of us are taking it seriously and some of us aren’t, and the news is filled with it, and there is no toilet paper to be found or meat or bread or fruit.

Listen, I don’t want to get on a high horse. I don’t want to get on a soap box. And I certainly don’t want to make anyone mad.

Honestly, I don’t have a whole of opinions, but what I would like to say is that we have never run out of food in any of the grocery stores in my city EVER. Never. We have never run out of food. Or toilet paper.

Or bread!

And that’s not an opinion. That’s just a fact, Jack.

So the hoarding and stuff is actually a little annoying.

Oops. That is an opinion.

Anyways . . .

The last time we talked, it was a Monday, and we were going to be out of school for three weeks, the third week being our Spring Break.

And then the very next day . . . as in TUESDAY, the day after Monday . . .

We found out that our county closed all of its schools until April 30.

I MEAN.

Wait.

Again, I’m saying WAIT.

And I’m shaking my head.

And I’m tilting to my head to the side.

And I’m looking all around myself as if there were answers beside me or in front of me or somewhere, but there are none.

NONE.

IS THIS REAL LIFE?!

APRIL 30.

If you live in Kansas, you’re not even going back this year.

And that is sad.

THAT IS SAD, I said.

THIS IS SAD.

I don’t want to lie to you so I’m going to be honest.

When we found out last Friday that our Spring Break was basically moved up by two weeks and extended . . . well, it wasn’t like I was hating it. I mean who doesn’t want an extra two weeks of Spring Break? As it is, our winter break is three weeks long so it wasn’t like this was an unheard of amount of time or whatever. So I’m not going to lie to you about it. I was like . . . YEEHAW, GIDDY UP, LET ME PUT MY PJS ON AND FIND A SHOW TO WATCH.

But then, when we got the April 30 date . . . I just felt like crying.

I am in no way, shape, or form ready to say goodbye to my class.

Nope.

NOT READY.

NOT PREPARED.

NOT EMOTIONALLY SOUND OR STABLE IN ORDER TO DO SO.

NOPE.

I am praying praying praying every day that we WILL go back. I’m praying for our high school seniors, including my lovely niece, Madison, in TX, that they WILL get to go back before the end of the year, that they WILL get to walk across a stage somewhere, that I WILL get to use my plane ticket and go see my niece walk across a stage somewhere . . .

As of right now, on only day six of being out of school, we are not being required to provide distance learning. Our school district and our union are trying to figure it all out.

In the meantime, we were allowed back into school (staggered time slots so we adhered to social distancing) to grab anything left behind in our classroom . . . YOU GUYS! It was like I was on a game show!

I was running around my classroom like a crazy person. A CRAZY PERSON. I grabbed picture books, my grade book, my crayon sharpener, Germ X, Clorox wipes, crayons, candy, copy paper . . . I don’t even know what all!! And the whole time I kept saying OUT LOUD DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE, DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE, DON’T TOUCH YOUR FACE!

Oh, and did I mention it was raining, too?

Because it was.

It was like a Game Show that I could DO and WIN.

Just saying.

But I got my stuff!!!!!

I GOT PICTURE BOOKS (which I disinfected and wiped as soon as I got home).

And now I’m recording a read aloud to send to my families EVERY DAY!!! It makes me SO HAPPY!

Just in case you’re wondering . . . on my Mac, I’m using QuickTime Player. Then I am uploading the video to my Google Drive. And then I’m sharing that link in an email to my families.

By the way, do you know how easy and amazing it is to read a story without any interruptions of any kind? To read a story without someone knocking on the door? Without someone telling me that their cousin’s dog that died was also named Sam like the character in the book? Without someone asking to go to the bathroom? Without the classroom phone ringing? Without someone raising their hand to tell me that someone is touching them or looking at them funny? Without someone telling me they’re squished?

It was weird.

It was strange.

I can’t actually say that I liked it.

Because I miss my kids.

And reading to a screen is just not the same.

I’m learning a lot online, though, and my task for this week is to play around with Zoom and FlipGrid and Screencastify. Because then maybe I can read to my kids LIVE and IN PERSON.

Also, I hear you can mute students . . . so it might be the best of both worlds!

😉

How are YOU!?

Remember, we’re in this together.

Six feet apart . . . but together.