The Year of Meh.... Maybe :)

Back to school.  Usually, I think of the old Staples commercial with Andy Williams singing, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", with the parents gleefully dancing down the aisles, sending their kids back to our care at school.  The kids have glum faces.  If you don't remember it, or if you can use a smile, you can find it here.  This year, I wouldn't be able to see the faces of the kids, because they would be obscured by a mask.  Dad would not be holding the handle of the cart because he'd be wiping it with Purell or wearing gloves.  However, it gives me delight when I look at this commercial.  Every. Single. Time.  Even now, making the link for you.   

This back to school season, I feel like the song could be like the soundtrack of Jaws when someone was about to be attacked.  Or, it's the Most Meh- derful Time of the Year.  There is so much uncertainty or fear attached to it.  Normally, I'm full swing, new activities, new decor and syllabi all done and pretty.  This year, I barely got my decorations delivered on time.   I barely looked at them, well, except for my train.  I love my train.  And, no, I don't get a commission or any acknowledgement if you look or buy.  My baby niece loves the train too, so if it makes it all year, it goes to her in May.  (Once it is disinfected.  I'm not sure it will survive because of the disinfecting misting they are doing all of the time --- CDC approved, but not sure if it is train approved.) :)  But, in many of the trainings I took this summer, and in many of the catch ups with teacher friends, and in many of the blogs I read, I notice that many people are living in Meh-ville.

However, beginning tomorrow, I'm heading in to the campus and setting up the decor and the distancing for my room.  Not sure how that will go, but hey, we will try to make it work.  I'll head home late in the afternoon and go to the last medical appointment for the summer and probably come home and collapse.   Then, Tuesday, all of the fun, all important meetings begin.  Oh, and the COVID testing we all get to do to show parents that we are healthy, along with our temperatures.  I'd like to develop a headband that shows my temperature at all times to save myself the effort.    

So, today's post is totally being motivated by the #MTBoSBlaugust challenge on Twitter.  I just spent the weekend moving over to Blogger from Word Press because the renewal price at Word Press was more than I could bear to pay.  I could have bought 10 trains for the renewal price, to give a hint.  Yikes!  So, thanks for the challenge!

I'm really focused on creating digital opportunities for the students that will allow them to approximate the same type of experiences they would have if they could use manipulatives or if they were in my class. (We have some who will be joining us from home as we broadcast each day, as well as those who will be joining us in the physical realm.  Of course, if someone gets sick, then they join the virtual team as well.)  I want to create things that I can repurpose with ease --- scalability if you will.  I'm not the biggest fan of spending a good chunk of time creating something I can use once, or at least one time per year.  I want to spend my time creating things I can basically plug and chug across the subjects I teach.  (Which is primarily Geometry with some financial literacy and computer science thrown in!)   So look for that during the month of August.  I welcome you to join me as I work to create (and, hopefully, share if you like them) some things that will make the inconvenience of the current situation a little more palatable. 

August can still be the most wonderful time of the year, if we let it.   I know the dangers and risks.  I'll be the girl wearing her mask and gloves and glasses (instead of contacts) because my doctor says I need to do that to limit my exposure and risk.  It's not like I don't get it.  I just don't want it to get me.  I am in control of my approach and attitude toward things that are not pleasant.  I'm leaving the arguments of should we or shouldn't we to other people, because, the fact is, whether you feel I should or shouldn't be in a school building, my job requires it, so I will be there.

As teachers, we need to be the driver of content and attitude.  We are the only ones who can dictate how we will deal with the new abnormal.  I refuse to declare it the new normal.  I plan to get back to normal as soon as it is deemed safe.   I don't want kids to come and feel like it is Meh, or that they are getting less of an educational experience because of COVID.  They have one childhood.  They have one season of life where the primary responsibility is learning.  I want them to leave my classroom knowing that they received every tool they needed for success and that their learning was not diminished by the conditions of our room or of the pandemic.  The needs of our students at the core of things is unchanged.  

So here's to an exciting month, hold the Meh.