Teaching and Learning in School and in Life

I've been wrestling with so many thoughts and it has robbed sleep and I think it's time to hit the blank white page of the blog and throw these thoughts out to the internet universe.  If nothing else, it will lift them off of my weary spirit.  Writing does that for me.  

I'm working on a project related to distance learning as I engage in a great deal of it this semester.  I've always considered myself a face to face teacher.  I am learning just how much I feed off of the interaction, the facial cues, the body language, the back and forth of discussion.  I fully support distance learning.  I think we are missing a large part of our population that would like to further their education because it is not available to them in their site bound situation, especially in a large geographical area like Wyoming.  I believe we have pockets of excellence that are left untapped.  That being said, I also now realize I believe that distance learning, specifically online learning, is not the perfect fit for every class or circumstance.  Teaching is a human profession.  Growing teachers is so very difficult without sitting at a table in collaborative groups and discussing data, discussing students, discussing lessons, discussing management, and sharing ideas.  It can be done with technology.  There is no doubt.  It is not the same. I have this fear that the longer the pandemic waxes and wanes the more we might settle into a new normal where we know ushering new teachers into the profession can be done through distance so we then believe it should be done by distance. As with all things in life we need balance and, at some point, we need to be in a room together with live discussion and in-the-moment problem solving.  We need to watch each other learn and grow so we can recognize the success and struggle in our future students.  

I think of my friends and colleagues who are in elementary classrooms right now.  How life might look different for them at this moment in time!  What discussions are they having?  What questions do students have about an invisible enemy?  What is it like to console a young child, encourage a young child, from a distance under a mask?  Yet, they are doing it and are doing it well and they are exhausted and happy to just be doing what they love with the students they love.  Part of me admires them and part of me is jealous- ready to be anywhere, even in a hazmat suit, interacting with little humans.  For now, the neighbor child that rides his little motorized Jeep and sends me a big smile and wave (after Dad told him I was okay) each day has to suffice.  Man, the joy of driving 1 mph in that Jeep with the top off and the wind blowing- I need to capture an ounce of that.  

My friends and colleagues teaching right now earn the title of hero.  We lost a hero last week.  Having lived with the shadow of colon cancer for more than eleven years now it was difficult to know that even the Black Panther is not immune to this wretched disease.  Then, there's what feels like the randomness of it all.  My husband, stage IV, goes on evening bike rides with me.  Chadwick Boseman, stage III, is gone from us.  Man, I hate cancer.  I don't like to hate.  I don't like the word.  But, I hate cancer.  In the world of technology, Chadwick was able to keep his disease and his fight private.  I admire that.  It tells me he knew how to surround himself with the right people, those that would honor his wishes and remain true to them. Since his passing many in the cancer community have wished he would have lived his struggle out loud to help others, especially young black men, seek out medical attention and be proactive and vigilant.  Of course, I agree, but I also know that it was his struggle, his fight, his disease, and his choice.  We chose to share, maybe overshare, in order to support others who may face colon cancer at some point in life.  We wanted to take away the fear and stigma and to be real and vulnerable.  Not everyone wants to do that.  It's tough.  You don't want to share too much because some of it is innately private.  You want to share enough that it is real.  Cancer is never pretty but it can have beautiful side effects.  Nothing sets your priorities in line more quickly.  I think Chadwick teaches us a great lesson- live life to the fullest to the very end, continue to serve others, and find the people in life who love you and will honor you in life and death.  

Ironically, I will now close and throw this out into the big wide world of the internet, sharing from a distance.  When the pandemic fades find me and we'll share a coffee and share the same air and share our learning and growing without the assistance of any technology.  I am eager for those days.