What a crazy year 2020 has been! This has been a year like no other but it has allowed me to slow down and focus on the things that are really important: family, friends and our health. Here are a few bright spots of 2020.
The week of March 9th, 2020 was going to be a busy one. When I say busy, I mean BUSY! We had dance on Monday for my oldest, Honor Choir practice and swim for my youngest. Tuesday was dance for my youngest. Wednesday was my oldest’s 12th birthday and a field trip with my youngest. Thursday was swim again. Both girls had two dance classes on Saturday, plus we had scheduled dance pictures for after their classes.
I remember waking up Monday morning already tired! As far as school went, that week was a full moon and Friday the 13th!! I was expecting all kinds of craziness!
I remember thinking, “Three more weeks until Spring Break! I can make it!”
By midweek, I had heard of other districts closing down, but no word from our district or our home district where my girls go to school. Thursday night we got the call for the girls – no school on Friday. On Friday morning, my district closed down. Teachers spent the day scrambling to get things together for the students without knowing what we were facing. We were expecting to be closed for 3 weeks.
We still haven’t gone back! We have been remote this whole year!
My bright spots in all that has been:
#1: I was feeling so overwhelmed with all that was going on and I was finally forced to slow down! We spent more time at home with each other. I wasn’t constantly running kids to different activities. It made us take a look at all the extras we were doing and prioritize what we really wanted to spend our time on.
#2: I have had the opportunity (forced?) to learn new technology. Things that I have wanted to learn more about (SeeSaw, BoomLearning) but didn’t make a priority because there were always so many other things to be done. I’ve learned to be creative and create my own games and activities for my students. I’m eternally grateful to the amazing teaching community for sharing ideas, videos, products and strategies that worked for them.
There are many things that I’m still frustrated with about 2020 but I am hopeful and look forward to 2021!