Lighten-up

By Laura Harder

I’m a classroom teacher. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to be… except for also wanting to be a mom. I’ve said for years that I would love to homeschool my kids, but they’ve never quite figured out how to allow me to work from home for my teacher salary. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for!

Last week my school district in California made the unprecedented decision to close our schools for three weeks, plus spring break. This is all in the name of flattening the curve… a phrase we’d never heard of two weeks ago. Over the weekend I found myself really feeling inadequate for the distance learning (another new phrase). My district did not have time to properly train us in what to do so they gave us an amazing gift. “Don’t do anything yet.” They told us to take care of our families and wait for further instructions. Immediately well-meaning colleagues began sending emails of how to accomplish distance learning.

Immediately parents began begging for homeschool curriculum. I had several people ask if I would be willing to take their children on as a “teacher’s helper” — which really defeats the purpose, don’t you think?

After the district’s decision I let my kids know there would be no school until Wednesday at the earliest. Overnight the assignments began from the teachers so I quickly readjusted and had two very good sports get started on school away from school. The first thing that struck me was the equity surrounding homeschooling. I have a hard time with it. A really hard time. In my own house I saw one student who was tasked with looking at a Google Classroom setting to try out a recipe and another who spent the next five hours working on assignments for two classes. I thought about kids who don’t have access to technology,those who have to care for younger siblings, those without internet access, and even whether we should be using up online resources for classwork when there are more pressing needs in the world. That led me to Facebook, which led me to a downward spiral rabbit hole (doesn’t it always?) of reading people’s grumblings over the situation. From there I wrote my own post, and I offer it here as a suggestion for others to consider.

“Parents need to lighten up on their kids. Teachers need to lighten up on their students. People need to remember that kids are scared. You know that feeling when you get a tickle in your throat and cough? Yep… multiply that by hearing how “kids are the carriers” — see if that helps them feel safe. People need to realize there is a lot more to getting through this than a position paper and an algebra makeup. People need to stop complaining about having their kids around. People need to stop worrying about whether this is a necessary thing or not. This is the way things are. Attitude is everything. My kids have been absolute rockstars in this. They woke up ready to go and got through their “homeschool” plan. Remember… I told them they didn’t have to go to do school today and they did it anyway. And they did it well. I couldn’t be happier with them over what they’re doing. This is a really weird time. Unprecedented. History in the making. Again… attitude is everything. When I look back on these days I want to love what we got to do. I’m pretty sure I will. Will you?