April showers bring May flowers, right? March is supposed to be our windy month, but for so many days now, it is just raining. Sometimes, it is this fine mist that falls and causes the world to look as if it is covered in fog. The gloom and dreariness seem to reflect the current state of uncertainty. No one seems to know what the next step should be. If we plan out lessons, can they be used? For some strange reason, we have to wait until we get directions in order to teach our students. Will we be out of school for the next two weeks or more? Will we continue to be socially-distanced or become quarantined? It's almost like being a marionette with someone else pulling the strings.
I did go out on a limb tonight. Several of my students have emailed me, wanting to know what they should do about schoolwork. You see, we were at the end of a research project and were to have the main writing and display pieces ready-to-go on Tuesday, the 18th, when everyone returned from Spring Break. Then, beginning on Wednesday, we would have our Dinner Parties, which are the presentations finalizing the project. Well, I cannot give them info on those items as of yet, but I did send out an email challenging them to continue reading and to check out our class blog tomorrow by noon. At that time, we will begin a writing challenge. Prizes will be involved. All of this is voluntary, of course, but if they will continue to read and to write, my heart will be happy. It will be like a ray of sunshine in all of this gloom to know they are continuing what we started in our class.
Ohhhh this line: "It's almost like being a marionette with someone else pulling the strings." How appropriate--perfectly captures the moment we are all in and the mood of the country. We are out until the first week in April, but then our superintendent said today it could be until the end of the year...I think this unsettled feeling will be our new norm for awhile. So sorry you're going through this with your students. You've got this, friend.
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