Return to Work?
It has been a long two years. Two years ago at this time, we had no idea how education and the world would change. We had no idea about lockdowns, runs on toilet paper, virtual learning, or how commonplace wearing a mask would be. Even right before spring break two years ago, we in BC and most of North America were naive. Even if we thought that spring break would be extended a week or two, we had no idea that we would be moving to virtual learning or we in education would constantly have to pivot to meet the new orders and needs of students. Two years later with variant after variant and rules changing like quicksand, we are exhausted.
And then came Omicron.
In the last three weeks we have seen an explosion in cases around the world. We have learned that this variant is much more transmissable and it has symptoms similar to the common cold. Some provinces are encouraging people to not get tested and just ‘assume’ they have covid in order to not overwhelm testing facilities. And some provinces, like Ontario, have decided to stop collecting Covid-19 numbers in schools.
Teachers are scared. Parents are scared. Kids are scared.
What will educators do?
What we always do. We will listen to the new measures, we will reorganize our classrooms, we will make online teams ready for functional closures. We will welcome our students when they return on the 10th (in BC) and help them to feel safe. We will wash our hands—so much—and remind kids tuck in their nose at least one hundred times per day.
Some will leave the profession. Many already have. My heart aches for these teachers who lost joy and hope in a profession they once loved. I hope they have found joy in something new.
When I think about new teachers, I get a bit sad. They do not know what it is like to not teach through a pandemic. Most of them had their practicum during a pandemic and now it just feels normal—and hard. Dear new teacher, it will not always be this hard. There will be a time when you can see the bottom half of your students faces again, I promise. It doesn’t seem like it, but I know it will happen. Dear new teacher, there will be a time when we don’t have to worry about suddenly shifting online and teaching while sick ourselves or finding ways to engage six-year-olds in online learning. There will be a time when we don’t have to think carefully about each manipulative we use in order to either (1) set it aside for several days or (2) clean it in soapy water. Teaching is not supposed to be this hard—or this chaotic.
To My Staff—My Colleagues
We at Katzie have the added challenge of navigating new measures in the pandemic and helping kids navigate their emotions around a lost teacher. This week was supposed to be a time to start reestablishing routines while taking the time to talk to our classes and unpack big feelings. It was supposed to also be a time we could get together as a staff to hug and cry. We need that. We need those moments for closure and mourning. I have a hunch that as of tomorrow, all meetings and interactions with adults will have to be online and so that time together will be lost. That time that is so vital for us to start healing. I know we will find a way. We will send air hugs and tears from afar to our colleagues, but it won’t quite be the same.
How will I find my positive this year?
The year seems a bit daunting, so I thought I would share some of the things I am doing to find some joy—some are linked to education and some are not.
I am going to purposely find adult books by BIPOC/LGBTQ2+ authors to broaden understanding. I have many great books in my student library and have read diverse middle grade authors, but that is not enough right now. The books on my list right now are:
In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott (Read last week)
Read This to Get Smarter by Blair Imani (Partway done)
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi (Next on the list)
How to Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Leave a comment with a book you would recommend!
I am participating in professional development at the district level with amazing groups of people.
I am part of TWO yearlong math projects. Both centre around assessment and understanding the numeracy cycle. I feel grateful that I get to work with Jess, Chris, and Marc at the district level as well as my colleague Sarah at the school level.
I am part of TWO literacy projects. For one I get to play around with loose parts and link them to multiple areas and for the other, I am playing around with assessment. I feel grateful that I get to work with Celine at the district level and both Heather and Melissa at the school level.
I am working on my books.
I am working with my agent Taisha to prepare the final bits of a picture book proposal to start sending out in January. I am very excited about this one as it was coauthored with the family oral history of two of my former students (sisters).
I am revising my education book. I am working on draft three and things are starting to come together.
I am focusing on gratitude
I created a gratitude jar in my room and am trying to put a sticky note in each night with something I am grateful for. I am two for two so far…so that is a good start.
I want to tell people why I am grateful for them more explicitly this year. I have so many people who help me in so many ways and I am not sure that they know it.
I am working on myself.
I am talking to a counsellor regularly who I like (this is the important part).
This past year, I was diagnosed with anxiety (severe) and have accepted that right now I need to take medicine to help. Mental health is important to talk about and make visible. I don’t plan on being on medicine forever, but right now it is needed and that is okay.
I am trying to exercise. My husband literally built a gym in our basement and I love to walk. The pandemic, however, kicked my behind and my anxiety monster kept me from exercising. I am hoping that time is over and that I can start moving again because I really do love moving—my anxiety monster is a jerk..but is becoming a more manageable one.
I know the pandemic seems endless, but I have to have hope that it is not. I have to look at what I can do in order to focus on staying physically and mentally healthy so I can be the best person, mother, wife, sister, daughter, writer, educator, and friend that I can be.
If all you are able to do is survive, that is enough.
Return to Work?
And so we eductors return to work tomorrow. We do not know what will happen next week or the week after that. We don’t know if we are headed back to a lockdown, a functional closure, or if we will sneak by and stay open by sheer hand-washing and masking alone. All we can control is ourselves and our responses to situations. We can make the best choices we can to keep everyone as safe as we can within the context of the safety parameters given to us by our provinces, our districts, and our administrators.
This is hard for everyone. If you feel overwhelmed or sad or alone, please reach out for help. Most districts have employee assistance programs. But you can also phone:
Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of BC: 604-872-3311
Fraser Health Crisis Line: 887-820-7444
Emergency: 911
I wish you luck tomorrow, next week, and the rest of the year. It seems like it will get harder before it gets better, but I hope we are almost done. This marathon has pushed so many of us and we are all tired. I know as a mom, I wanted my child to have a normal kindergarten year. It hasn’t happened—but we will have the best year we can with his class, just like I will have the best year I can with my students.
I challenge you tomorrow to check-in with an educator in your building. Let them know you missed them and that you are there to chat about anything. Teachers are strong alone—but we are even stronger together.