Re-Cap (Pandemic Teaching)

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 Hello Internet Friends! 

It has been a few years since I’ve done a blog post and quite a bit has happened since then- a global pandemic being one of them. I can’t really blame my lack of writing on the pandemic though- I stopped blogging in mid 2019. I decided to give my blog a facelift (Thanks to Simply Stella design It’s now 2022 so let's do a little world/life/teaching update!

  • Pandemic. I couldn’t do an update post without mentioning the pandemic. In the 19-20 school year I was teaching 5th grade and honestly struggling with student behaviors. I had some kids who were really anxious and depressed. In March 2020 (like the rest of the world) I sent my kids home one day thinking I’d see them all in 2 weeks as we waited for the mystery virus to cool down- little did we all know lol. The rest of that school year actually wasn’t that bad- we all adjusted fairly well to remote learning and I grew closer to my kids who were struggling with anxiety because the peer pressures of school had been removed for them. I also had many students who struggled with attendance and keeping up with classwork- this was an unfortunate part of pandemic teaching- especially at a title 1 school. We did manage to have the best and first ever Covid19 virtual graduation. (see below for the class picture the kids made with avatars of themselves).

    • In the 2020-2021 school year I decided to teach 3rd grade virtually for the whole school year (*see photos for some snapshots of my virtual classroom). I live in an area that was remote for most of the 20/21 year. I was really surprised that I enjoyed working from home a lot more than I would have ever thought! The pandemic forced me to slow down, take better care of myself, and I loved spending more time with my husband and dog. I had the best virtual class ever and got a different look into my kids’ lives- I saw pets, siblings, family gardens, etc. We did virtual reading and math groups and I used a bunch of fun new websites and apps. We also got to do a couple of IRL events at my school like planting flowers to take home (see photo of our in person gardening plant day). My virtual class hosted a wonderful student teacher with a disability and her service dog. We also hosted an undergraduate student who did volunteer hours in my class.

    • I was very blessed during this time because I spent my quarantine time well with my family and had virtual lunches and happy hours with friends. 

    • *I know the pandemic wasn’t as good for many people. Please know that if the pandemic negatively impacted your family my thoughts and prayers are with you. 

  • Special Education. During the pandemic an opportunity came up at my district to get my SPED endorsement for a low cost. I needed pandemic hobbies and love learning so I jumped at the opportunity. I meet 2x a week with teachers from all over my district for the whole school year and took all the coursework for an endorsement. I ended up passing the state test too! (*In my state I didn’t have to do any student teaching/fieldwork because I had a teaching credential already). At the end of the year I decided to make a big leap and asked my district what open SPED jobs there were (because there weren’t any 3rd grade jobs or virtual jobs anymore). I decided/half was pushed into taking a special education job. 

  • 2021-2022. And here we are at the 2021-22 school year. I am currently teaching a k/1 special education self contained / life skills class. Woah- has it been a whirlwind. I took a big leap of faith in trying out this totally new role. I’d spent most of my career in upper grades and here I am with littles! I’m teaching a class with students who have autism/developmental disabilities/multiple disabilities. It has been a big learning experience (more on that in a future post). 

That’s my school update. I know that these past few years have been really hard- the pandemic shut us all down in our homes, made it hard to see friends and family, and turned the world upside down. The pandemic has made me slow down, appreciate what I have, and re-access what’s important in life. The pandemic took the lives of many too early and impacted many people with long Covid. I encourage you to get vaccinated- get boosted and continue to stay safe and healthy. 

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