MacGirlver and MacGyver
Listen people. You would NOT believe what our teachers are doing these days to try and mitigate the strange consequences of the global pandemic. These people are working so hard. It’s like they are all MacGyver or MacGirlver™ (JS!). And by the way, it is still summer for them. Personally, when I was in the classroom, I rarely thought about school until August 1st. There was plenty of time to brainstorm new lessons, research particular topics, and write plans between then and start of school.
Clearly this year, I would be alone in that timeline.
Just look on Pinterest or follow an education topic on Twitter and quickly you will see a plethora of solutions. Yes of course you can find plenty of venting, anger and frustration at the dearth of specific information and plenty of those questions I’ve mentioned in previous blogs. (No, we still don’t have satisfying answers). You will also find ideas galore for how to conduct various classroom activities in the Age of COVID.
You can make a hands-free sanitizing station out of PVC pipe!
You can put together a quarantine plan for your library books.
You can convert a straw dispenser into a pencil dispenser so kids only touch one!
Yet again, teachers are rising to the occasion. It is very difficult for district leaders to prescribe every nuance that comes up in the day to day life of a classroom teacher. There’s just so much! One directive creates 10 other unintended consequences and more dominoes that keep falling. So teachers are just going to figure out how it will work best in their classroom for their particular children.
But of course things will be different again for these teachers and students in two weeks’ time. And I’m certain these teachers will make those “if/then” plans for the new new normal, all over again.
Like they always do.
posted by Jennifer Seal
July 23, 2020