The world is full of uncertainty right now and academics is right up there on the list. Will they go back to finish the school year? How do we bridge this time between? Will they all be on the same level in 6 weeks? Am I doing enough? Am I do a disservice to my kids’ academic performance with my subpar teaching? Are they going to regress? Are we taking remote learning seriously enough?
I’m going to say it, I would be much happier if we agreed to just call school year 2019-2020 a partial fail. Backtrack the curriculum next year to bridge the gap and put this whole situation in our distant memory. We are out of school until at least the beginning of May, though many educators speculate we won’t be going back this year.
Really all I want is someone to give me permission to just scrap this year and let it go. I am not equipped to teach my children right now. They definitely do not listen to me the same way they listen to their teachers. We are flying by the seat of our pants. I have no idea what curriculum goals I am meeting if any. And the idea of forcing my kids in front of Zoom for “enrichment activities” daily makes me want to pull my hair out. Did I mention my husband and I are also trying to work from home?
We are all under so many different stressors from health to job security to being socially isolated. There is so much uncertainty and stress is bred from uncertainty. What we have done so far for academics is just offering us some form of control in a chaotic world where we don’t really know what else to do. I just don’t think many of us really want any more on our plates.
Reasons Why I Just Cannot (Just Call the School Year)
- I am stressed. Listen. Stressed people? We don’t make good educators and we make a mountain out of a molehill. I literally feel exhausted by the mere thought of running my kids’ academics from home.
- I have no idea what I am doing. I am doing the best I can, like everyone else. But who knows if it’s working? I don’t have a teaching degree or any kind of formal training. I don’t even have the patience to even consider a structured lesson right now.
- I am emotionally exhausted. Even reading the emails giving optional enrichment options is all too much. I start reading and feel a fatigue come over me that makes me have to reread the paragraphs at least 3 times before I get what they’re asking of me.
- There will be no way to account for who learned what at home. Not every person has a home computer and internet access. People in lower socioeconomic groups may not have the means to be able to give their children full internet access for school. Special education children need accommodations made. We can’t ensure that everyone will be taught across the board like they are in public schools.
- Kids are stressed. These kiddos need socioemotional learning more than ever right now. I don’t want to have to argue with my kids to do this work. I don’t want to force them to sit down at designated times. They miss their normal school routines, their teachers and friends and they have no outlet with sports and after school activities. And they know adults are stressed. This is a big emotional adjustment for them.
- Did I say I was stressed?
So, what do you say Department of Education? Let’s just call this year the hot mess that it is and start fresh in September. It would take a lot of stress off a lot of people. Oh wait, maybe not, I just got an email from our town on our new remote learning directives for the month of April. Send help and wine.
