The CoronaChronicles

We are living in a new and unprecedented time.  Especially in terms of education.  While I am teaching social studies in a middle school, I am still trying to get my students to write (as if I were teaching them English again) and reflecting on what is happening in the world and our country.  If I ask my students to journal, then I should be doing it along side them.  This is perfect for someone who has had their own blog for 11 years. However, I'm also an overachiever.  I've asked my kids to write a minimum of half a page and I went and changed the margins on my Google Doc to make it look like I only wrote one page with an image.  My poor kids have no idea what they're in for when it comes to my writing. I am trying to be thoughtful.  I am trying to think of what they want to hear me say.  So if my kids are reading it, why not all the people who choose to read this website? I'm working from home so that should be plenty of time to update JDKC ALL. THE. TIME. Who knows how long we will be forced into quarantined isolation, so I'll be able to keep everyone updated on my life as a teacher working from home and how it affects me as a person, a teacher, and someone who questions their sanity on the reg. 

So go on dear readers... Click the "read more" button and see what I am writing for my students. 

xo, J. 

I remember all the moment’s of history that I’ve already lived through - they’re very specific pieces of those days. 
   On September 11, 2001 I was 9 years old and sitting in a classroom when we were all shuffled from our upstairs classroom to the cafeteria.  They had the TVs on and we watched as the planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings that morning. I remember talking to teacher aides about how “my cousin is in the Navy and he’s on a submarine and will save us all.” 
   On May 2, 2011 I was a month away from my high school graduation when I was standing in my living room as President Obama made his announcement that Osama Bin Laden had been “taken out” (as the articles today would put it).  I texted one of my friends saying “this is one of our first big moments of history that we will tell our kids about one day.” 
   Those moments have stuck with me and for the last 9 years nothing has truly stood out to me or made me think “in 20 years I will be telling my kids about this.”  That is until last Wednesday after all the health organizations of the world had declared COVID-19 a pandemic. I was driving home and I thought “this is an odd moment of history that we will one day teach from our history books.” 
   I’ve thought about that moment a lot in the last week.  I think I wanted to be wrong. I wanted this to pass quickly because I was already thinking ahead to the coming weeks and what it could mean for us as a school, a community, as a country in general. As much as I wanted this to go slowly so we could try to prepare not only for ourselves as teachers, but for students and families.  I wanted this to go much slower so we could get to spring break and be ready for what came next. But that’s the thing with what we want - sometimes it doesn’t happen that way. 
I tend to worry about things that I cannot control and I know a lot of others who are like me - we like to stay in control of the situations around us.  When we got the news that schools had to close I kept repeating to myself that the one thing I can control is how I can support my students. I wanted nothing more than to be able to answer your questions and be there for you during this time.  But things went quickly and I answered questions as best I could. I also told many of you that I will keep myself as available as possible for questions and concerns on work that would be assigned or anything else that could come up. ​​
   And then I saw this image ( → ) on Instagram.  It is meant for families who have children younger than you and me, it felt like a good way to start planning how I would spend three weeks at home. It gave me a good outline.  While I am not planning on playing with legos (I could, if I could find them), I think it is great to stay in the routine of waking up early and being productive. So my schedule would look more like this (with slightly flexible times):

• 7:00 am: Wake up: Make my bed and eat breakfast
• 8:00 am: Some kind of physical activity to get me ready for the day (I like to do yoga in the mornings). 
• 9:00 am: Check emails.  This is my “academic time.”  I can check emails, post new things to google classroom or remind, work on my daily journals, and check in with other teachers. 
• 11:30 am: Depending on the day, it will consist of something academic. Either my office hours with students and Mr. Minnillo (Tuesdays and Thursdays) or grading work that needs to be added to IC. 
• 12:30 pm: Lunch time. 
• 2:00 pm: Back to work for school. Checking assignments and answering questions/emails. 
• 3:00 pm: Fresh Air: This is where I will go running or for walks.  I cannot sit inside my house at my desk or kitchen table every day for the next few weeks. 
• 5:00 pm: Usually dinner time. 
• And then the rest of the night will be spent relaxing.  I want to read every day, at least 1 hour (possibly more depending on the day), so I can keep myself in a fun learning mode (and keep up on my Amazon reading challenge for the year). And I will also be working on some of my cross-stitching projects that I’ve started and neglected. 

My schedule looks very different from the one in the image, but the one in the image shows that you don’t need to be spending 8 hours of your day at home on school work.  Your education is important and that is why all of us are trying to ensure you’re going to still be engaged in the learning process, but we also understand you won’t be engaged and interested if you can’t still be a teenager.  
    Go outside, play video games, talk to friends on the phone (don’t be too close to anyone), do things that make you feel good.  But also remember you have a responsibility for your learning. The image above shows 4 hours of “academic time” for students in elementary school, but we can still apply that to ourselves.  Make it work for you. Maybe you’re going to save all your work until 5:00 pm; maybe you’re going to try and get everything done in the morning. But go outside, read a book, watch tv.  
    This is a weird and uncertain time we are living and we are going to need a lot of support - all of us, not just students - in navigating the new way of doing things.  We are all learning together. And hopefully one day we will all be able to share these journals with our families to showcase how we managed to survive and stay healthy during these times.

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