January 2021, yet another “lockdown”.  I never imagined that we would be in this situation almost a year later.

A “Visualising School- Photo Pause” without a single picture taken at school!

I am a part of so many CIRCLES – I am a teacher and a national counselor. I am a mother who strives to cook healthy food for a family and the daughter of an elderly mother. I need to exercise for my body and take pictures for my soul, particularly as my circle of friends has become socially distant…

Work-Life balance has become trickier than ever with the addition of “Zoom”  meetings and in-service training courses that only begin late in the evening…

 

Teaching during this pandemic is causing the very firm and solid structure of my learning center for Deaf and hard of hearing high school students to shake and blur.  I’ve been a teacher for more than 35 years now – each year I replace a story we teach, incorporate a different method of practicing vocabulary, experiment with using more dramatic elements when teaching poetry, or begin a new method of visualizing students’ progress.

But those are examples of a controlled, well-planned process of remodeling specific rooms which are part of a permanent and reliable structure. A structure that worked well!

Even the simple fact these particular students can’t keep their books and notebooks in the classroom anymore has caused an upheaval!

“Showering” the students with “teacher love” used to be SO MUCH EASIER …

I know I’m supposed to be the dwarf (some of my teenage students tower over me and I’m not a short woman!) inspiring the students to believe in a “YES YOU CAN DO IT” attitude. But it’s hard to stay constantly full of inspiring energy with all that is going on in the background….

My students have always been diverse, with different needs, learning abilities, and emotional issues.  Those have always been the “building blocks” we have to work with.  One plan never fit everyone.

Distance learning’s addition of “new building blocks” that  need to be taken into account (such as technology available to the student, a quiet space to study) when planning a lesson nowadays has complicated matters even further…

 

Waiting for the teenagers who don’t wake up for their lessons…

… going  outdoors and enjoying the winter sun sounds more appealing!

Hang in there and be healthy!