When I think about this upcoming school year my face resembles this emoji 🥴. I truly don’t know what to think. To say that COVID-19 threw us for a loop was an understatement. I left work on Friday truly expecting to be gone for a few weeks at the maximum, but like everyone else that turned into the entire school year. Our districts adapted as best they could and they were very fluid which meant that everything kept CHANGING. 

I don’t know about you, but I am actually okay with change, what I am not okay with is constant change. I don’t like not having my feet under me, or having a plan and then being given a new plan the next day. It’s too stressful and I’m an adult! I know our students were stressed too, especially my seniors. I felt for them most of all. This was supposed to be a time of closing chapters and beginning new ones and that was all ripped from them. They made the best out of the situation and I applaud them for that. 

Now what are we gonna do in the fall? In North Carolina your guess is as good as mine. The Governor was supposed to make an announcement on July 1st, but he has postponed that indefinitely. I know it has to been soon because teachers have to report back August 6, and students start August 17th. What I have done is not overthink it because I don’t get paid enough to worry about it, and I won’t get paid more after the decision is made. Our districts sent out a survey to gauge how we all felt and I answered that and I believe that is the extent of what I can do at this juncture. 

I know that whatever they pick will not satisfy everyone. If they go back to business as usual, you will have parents and teachers that feel like you’re putting everyone’s health at risk. If you pick a rotation system (think one week in school and then the next online) then you have teachers that will now have to create a curriculum that works both in-person and online and then you have parents that are scrambling to find childcare for their children on the off weeks. If you pick 100% online you have children that are more likely not to receive the services they need because they are not in-person. We are depriving our children of the social aspect of school, and students that rely on that possible reprieve from home no longer have that. 

It’s all very heavy and like I said earlier I can’t afford to worry about which decision they will make. I just have to make sure I am equipped for whichever route they take. 

What do you all think? Parents what are your thoughts? If you are a fellow educator what are your thoughts?