Monday, September 28, 2020

Teaching in a Pandemic: An Acrostic

Stux via Pixabay

T
ake all day Sunday to craft assignments and pull together 

Everything students will need for the week

And inevitably miss a typo or forget something.

Change what needs changing.

Head to bed, visions of Powerpoints dancing in my head.

In the morning, tie up a few loose ends before fielding

New e-mails, some of which ask questions whose answers are available online.

Graciously (but sometimes grudgingly) reply because


I know they're as tired and overwhelmed as I am.

No one can keep it all straight. Start class by


Asking if there are any questions, which there aren't because they don't know what they don't know.


Power through, cracking the occasional joke, which may or may not get

A laugh, depending on how awake they are, or if they're 

Not really here because they checked in then hid behind a 

Dark screen.

Educating is challenging when you don't know who you're talking to.

My students are trying, but they are worn down, and so am I.

It seemed like a good idea to someone to eliminate breaks, to 

Contain the contagion but, right now, a break is what we need.


manfredsteger via Pixabay

                            I
s it really only week

                            Six?





Nodding, my students in the classroom try to encourage and 

Occasionally even venture a reply but the rules are all different when half the class is live and

The other half is brought to you by Zoom. A few brave extroverts


Fight to keep the conversation going and maybe

One or two others join in. 

Really, I'm thrilled when there's any participation at all.


Weeks go by quickly, though the days drag on, lacking the variety that keeps us sane.

I'm happy when I make it through several successive days without a tech misstep.

My desire to inspire has not subsided but the 

Practical aspects of this new normal leave all of us feeling like a balloon whose air is

Slowly seeping out.

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