April Fools day is usually pretty crazy at school. Middle schoolers love pranks. It’s a day to stay on your toes and watch your back. This year, it’s another casualty due to the epidemic. I saw one industrious 7th grader try to pull a prank on 2 of his teachers electronically, which mainly just baffled the teachers; it didn’t make much sense and so fell flat. Carrie’s morning announcement was a rather eerie camera tour of Mahoney, empty and dark and even cold, except for the Mark’s happy wave. (He texted me later to remind me it would have been the home opener Thursday for the Red Sox. True fan!) When those days return we will cherish them all the more, I think.
The sameness of days is starting to set in. It’s still a challenge to figure out who is overwhelmed (talking about the kids now), who is bored and who is just not able to take part for a variety of reasons. Despite the phone calls made by Patty and Ben and Carrie and Mitch and various teachers, there is still silence from some of the students we are most concerned about. It’s the greatest frustration in this scenario, more than the odd pace of teaching or the tech troubles. In the best of times there is a sense that we are limited in what we can do to ensure everyone succeeds. In these times, those limitations multiply.
There is still fun with those kids who are invested. I’ve received neat emails with pictures of family pets and work desks and just plain funny finds from the Internet. I’m putting the home pics on the Mahoney homepage when kids give permission. Like this blog I’m not sure anyone is aware, but those kids whose pictures are up have all said “thank you” with smiles and exclamation points. They are still the same kids, by nature doing their best to play down the darker aspects of the problems we face and smiling and laughing as much as possible. That’s the way we have to try to keep things going.
16 days down.
Spk
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The sameness of days is starting to set in. It’s still a challenge to figure out who is overwhelmed (talking about the kids now), who is bored and who is just not able to take part for a variety of reasons. Despite the phone calls made by Patty and Ben and Carrie and Mitch and various teachers, there is still silence from some of the students we are most concerned about. It’s the greatest frustration in this scenario, more than the odd pace of teaching or the tech troubles. In the best of times there is a sense that we are limited in what we can do to ensure everyone succeeds. In these times, those limitations multiply.
There is still fun with those kids who are invested. I’ve received neat emails with pictures of family pets and work desks and just plain funny finds from the Internet. I’m putting the home pics on the Mahoney homepage when kids give permission. Like this blog I’m not sure anyone is aware, but those kids whose pictures are up have all said “thank you” with smiles and exclamation points. They are still the same kids, by nature doing their best to play down the darker aspects of the problems we face and smiling and laughing as much as possible. That’s the way we have to try to keep things going.
16 days down.
Spk
><>
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