We left the apartment in the bug, the temperature about 70 degrees, the sun attempting to pop through the clouds, set for Panera to grab some dinner.  Not to eat in, of course, but to go through the drive-thru and take home, to have a virtual dinner and play games with some friends.  As we were driving through the intersection, I just noticed how many people were out – so many driving, families and friends bicycling, people walking together and I thought, wow, this looks like normal.  Nebraskans are doing what Nebraskans tend to do and that would be whatever they want to because frankly, nobody notices.

Nope, nobody really pays attention to people who are mowing their yards wearing shorts  in November as the snow is falling.  Nobody pays attention when people go outside to watch the wall clouds come over their homes in hopes of seeing the tornado.  Nobody even pays attention when half the state is under water due to flooding and we have no navigable waterways.  So why would anyone pay attention if we just decided to get back to normal?

After all, Nebraska has more cows than people.  Literally. Memorial stadium is the 3rd largest city in Nebraska on game days.  Our largest city is Omaha, for crying out loud, a place made fun of in songs.  We’re flyover country.  When traveling and someone asks me where I’m from, I say “Nebraska” and they inevitably roll their eyes and say “Oh”.  Chances are they don’t know where the state located,  so who cares if we get back to normal?

But despite the fact that we have spring floods and it gets way below zero in the winter and the wind is awful and we’re called Tornado Alley, Nebraska has developed a population of people who are tough and no nonsense.  People that during a pandemic will begin to leave their homes and go to parks and ride their bikes and pick up take-out from the local mom and pop place to keep them in business while wearing a mask or social distancing because it’s the kind thing to do.  People who are pragmatic and that don’t scare easily.  People who pray, love their families and appreciate pubic schools.  Yeah, pretty old fashioned stuff, but as the people who live here will tell you, they’re ok that nobody notices or wants to be a part of us because it keeps the place nice – Nebraska Nice – just for us.

When we moved here 20 years ago this summer, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would still be here.  Oh sure, I complain about the weather when it’s really cold and really hot, but who wouldn’t complain about a 120 degree differential?  But the truth is these are people who are tough yet kind, no-nonsense people who think for themselves, who will be careful but who will not be afraid.  I appreciate that “pioneer spirit” if you will.

We’re talking about school beginning in August in some form and football in the fall and while some people might think we’re crazy, most people won’t even notice.  Because we’re Nebraska and quite frankly, we like it that way.  It’s not for everyone.

 

Everyone has one.  I have one in my Quaver Curriculum.  I have an memoji to send to my friends in texts.  Yes, I eventually figure these silly things out.  But I have apparently met my match.  I cannot do the Facebook Avatar.  And why?  Because it’s me and my terrible relationship with technology.

It hates me, you know.  And it knows I hate it.  Embrace it, they say.  You’ll get it, they say. No.  It doesn’t want me to.  I looked up how to do an avatar on line.  Friends tried to help me on Facebook.  My husband did his and tried to find the same things on my Facebook app.  Nothing.  Nada. Nil.

Why should I even care?  Seriously, at my age, why care?  Because all of my friends are doing it.  My PEERS are doing it.  I feel like the middle schooler I was over 40 years ago, always behind the cool curve.  I was born too late obviously.  I should have been born during the paper and pencil era, or better yet,  the quill and ink era.  After all, I like things like music with actual melody with people singing who aren’t pitchy and have to be corrected with – you guessed it – technology.  But I digress.

I have had two school computer teachers who have literally seen me screw up their computers when I walk in the room.  Things shut down, tabs that are supposed to work don’t, things don’t download, stuff that works for everyone else doesn’t work for me.  I walk out of the room and everything is fine.  Have I mentioned I can’t wear a watch?  It dies soon after I begin wearing it and even new batteries don’t help. People laugh about it but it is what keeps me behind everyone else.  Just like that silly avatar.

I’ve often wondered if being behind technologically made me a bad teacher. After all, and especially during the past two months, I’ve seen fellow teachers do amazing things with technology, with an understanding I’ll never have.  I always thought of myself as being a pretty good teacher, especially the last few years,  I can teach just about anything I need to without technology.  All I need are kids and the ability to tell a great story or share something fun and exciting, but then on March 16 I was thrown for a loop.  And now I sometimes find myself doubting my teaching ability over something I know doesn’t like me anyway.  Silly technology.

Now we depend on it for everything, from the sublime to the ridiculous.  I study, I teach, I lead, I learn, I create, I laugh, I cry.  All sitting in front of a screen watching other people sitting in from of their screens.  Now I just want to create a silly avatar.

Let me begin by saying I’m not saying when we need to get back to school – that is WAY above my pay grade.  However, I think there are a couple of things that need to be in place or emphasized whenever we do decide to go back because I believe they could, at the very least hinder learning, and at the most, be potentially life threatening.  Besides the obvious in terms of cleanliness and social distancing, what else might we consider when we do go back?

First of all, teaching and learning needs to be a face-to-face.  Technology can be and is a great tool to enhance education, but it’s the relationship built through work and trust between adults and children that makes for real learning.  However it is decided to structure that real, not virtual, face-to-face time is up for grabs, but ALL education in all subjects needs to be that way so that kids receive a well rounded education.  And before any of those disciplines are taught, or while those are taught,  making sure we focus on socio-emotional learning will be essential.

I’m sure that at the beginning it will feel like we’re going slowly or maybe even going backwards, but it is going to be so important to make sure kids are ok before we jump right into the academics.  Taking the time to make sure we help kids feel safe and taken care of and building those relationships will help us to get caught up faster.  After all, some kids just missed school or have lost a sense of routine.  Some will have left a more abusive home life, lack of food or even a place to live.  The emotions don’t just change because they start back to school.  Trauma stays with a person and as we know of kids in poverty, the basics need to be taken care of before we can even begin to think of the academics.  If we’ve learned nothing else during this pandemic it’s that there are a LOT of kids who depend on the public schools for the basics of life.  Public school, though imperfect, can be an equalizer for those kids in need.

The next thing we need to think about is serious classroom management, and not just for kids to do their school work.  If we find ourselves in a situation where kids need to wear masks, make sure they wash their hands, sneeze into their elbows, etc., teachers will need to be empowered to make sure this happens and have zero tolerance for students who refuse to comply.  This comes from a teacher who has seen kids get away with behaviors because they refuse and the teacher just needs to get through the lesson, or they’ve just worn us down, or maybe parents don’t support teacher efforts, or there’s simply not enough adults in the building to help this child if it’s not violent or hurtful.  After all, adults are expensive.

But what happens the first time a kid refuses to wear the mask or follow the playground rules to stay apart or touches other kids.  If the adults in the building can’t have complete control to make sure all kids stay safe, beginning school may not be safe for a long, long time.  Do we only have school for those compliant students?  So many of our at risk kids are not compliant, even when it’s important to be compliant, like for a lock down drill, for instance.  We may need more adults in our schools to make sure these kids are taken care of even if that means isolation from other students.

I have had the opportunity to speak with many teachers across the country and the stories are similar – social and administrative pressure keep them from doing what is right for those kids who disrespectfully refuse to do as they are asked.  Refusing to stop rolling their eyes is one thing.  Refusing to wear a mask is another.  But it begins with the rolling of the eyes.  For years some teachers have been discouraged from teaching students that it’s not ok to be disrespectful and not follow directions because it takes away a student’s rights or singles them out.  As a teacher I would want to know that I can single out a student if they’re not complying with a safety issue and deal with it immediately for the safety of others in the room without fear of being disciplined myself.    I certainly wouldn’t ignore a child getting ready to touch a hot stove or cross a busy street – I would single them out as quickly as I could for their safety. For some schools, this would mean completely revamping  their behavior management systems.  Teacher training, consistency and zero tolerance policies would have to be in place.  The adults would need to be the adults.

While there are many, many details that will need to be discussed and decided upon before the doors open again, these are a couple I believe need to be addressed immediately so that our kids will safely thrive in our schools.  Like so many educators, and I imagine, parents, I can’t wait until kids and teachers are back in our public schools again, building relationships and loving learning.  Safely.

 

How many times in your life have you stepped into the unknown?  Every first day of school with a new teacher or a new boss at a new job.  First day of beginning band was very different from the first day of band camp.  A marriage.  A divorce.  A birth.  A death.  Each life event takes us down an unknown path, despite the fact that others may have ventured in ways that are similar.  If the path only affects you, it’s hard but you only have yourself to worry about.  But when it affects others, stepping into the unknown is a time of creating scenarios, one of which will, hopefully be what is best for everyone.  Hopefully it will be the right one.  Hopefully you will have mentors who can guide you.

With most events, someone who has gone through something similar can guide and/or empathize.  They can give you an idea of what to expect.  But what happens when everyone is stepping into the unknown for the first time?  What if there is nobody else to go to for guidance or empathy because they too are diving into the unknown?  Is there anything around us that can guide us as to how to handle the unknown?

I am a control freak – I admit it.  I’m partially a control freak because, well, sometimes it’s all about me and I think I’m right.  I’m also partially a control freak because I don’t like surprises that might hurt in any way.  Sometimes when I’m not prepared, the other shoe drops.  Hence, the control freak.  In the last couple of months, I am working harder and harder to be a control freak in a situation where I feel I have very little control.  Because of that, I dip into very well known waters, anxiety and depression.  Staying busy, making things happen, distracts me from the unknown.  Until I sit in the quiet like I am right now and I realize, that control is a falsehood.  I’ve never been in control – other things are in control of me.  And so lately, I find myself looking to nature.

Despite the craziness that is happening, the leaves are coming out on the trees.  Flowers are blooming.  The birds are singing in the morning.  Animals that we normally don’t see are venturing out because we’re not allowed to or are afraid to step out into the unknown.  We have coyotes in the middle of town.  The earth, under the direction of a higher power, is doing its thing, showing us that while we THOUGHT we were in control and that the future of our planet was in our hands, the truth is that it’s actually doing better WITHOUT our hands.  Who would have thought – we were just in the way of it healing itself.  I wonder if the earth could teach us how to heal ourselves?  After all, we’re a creation as well.  A creation that is totally full of themselves apparently.

Instead we ignore the healing right outside our windows and spend our days full of “what ifs”.  How can we make things work just like they always have but using  different mediums?  Maybe we’re not supposed to do or make things the way they’ve always been.  Maybe this is our opportunity to step into the unknown and embrace it.  It’s going to be different, it’s going to be uncomfortable, and it could be wonderful.  Maybe this is the wake up call from the creator to get our stuff together, take advantage of the fact that things are crazy and that there are no rules.  We have an excuse to experiment and see if things work and if they don’t, we can blame it on the unknown.

Unfortunately we still have people who believe they are in charge and are afraid of letting go of the status quo, as it will cause them to relinquish some of the so-called power  they believe they have.  If the rest of us allow them to continue this way, the  renaissance I believe could be happening might be completely overlooked in our quest to get back to “normal”.  What if “normal” isn’t where the unknown is leading us?  Just asking.

The unknown can continue to be scary or it can be exciting and give us hope for a brand new world.  I’m looking for hope.

 

 

In ten days a journey I began 29 years ago will end.  It might have been 39 years ago, but I took a journey away from school to figure out what I really wanted to do.  After that journey, I made the decision to go back to school to learn how to be in school for the rest of my career.  Some might say it was a waste of time, but I say you learn from every experience. Since that decision, every year beginning in August (except for the one year I lucked into a job in October), I would step into my room, in whatever state or town I was in, and plan another year.

I was never one of those teachers who taught exactly the same thing every year.  I would have been bored out of my mind.  I used what worked, chucked what didn’t and inserted anything new I thought would work.  I learned from classes, workshops, colleagues and yes, stole ideas from practicum students and student teachers.  It wasn’t rocket science –  my plan was to do whatever got kids excited about learning about and participating in music.

Some years I taught K-8, some years K-12, some K-5, the later being my favorite.  My degree is in choral music with a long background in band, so I taught beginning band, 4-12 choir, but mostly elementary general music.  As much as they made me crazy, the littles made me laugh because you never knew what was going to happen next.  All the best laid plans could be completely upended by having to play whack-a-mole, especially with kindergarten.

And as much as I loved what I was doing, I was beginning to get a glimpse of a bigger picture.  I began to see past my little school in my little state and seeing what was happening across the country.  I began to have conversations with colleagues across the country about music education and saw that, while I felt I was having some impact with my own kids in my own little world, that maybe there was a way to do more.  Having the opportunity to serve on a national board showed me, however, that it’s still important to keep an eye on that little school in that little state.  It becomes easy to see the forest at that level, but you begin to forget that the forest is made up of individual trees.  I make it a point to not forget the trees.

So in ten days, after 29 years, I leave my own little room in my own little school and take a journey where I get to help others who are having their own journeys in their own little classrooms.  What can I do to help, to take away some of the burden, and to encourage?  How can I help develop better curriculum for kids, to develop professional development that excites teachers to do more or see what they’re doing through new eyes?  How can I use my experience to observe young teachers, to mentor them and perhaps help them avoid some of the pitfalls I experienced as a young teacher?

I will be working to answer all of those questions as I step away from that little classroom.  Year 30 is going to be an adventure.  I chose a great time as we’re all stepping into uncharted territory this coming year – it could be a little scary and perhaps a lot exciting as we restructure things that we’ve been doing the same way for, well, at LEAST 29 years.  Perhaps year 30 brings about even more collaboration and innovation than ever before.  And it all changes in 10 days.

Yep, I knew it all along.  This quarantine is just an excuse to ruin us and yes, I’m taking it personally.  What I can’t figure out is what do people have against musicians?  Yes, you heard that right – musicians.  Yes, I understand we tend to be heavy breathers and yes, we (singers) can spit pretty hard when we’re enunciating just right.  But that’s no reason to keep us from getting together, right?

In the last couple of days, I’ve read and heard some scary things, studies by people who understand all things air and music and they’re telling us that we’re not going to be able to sing in groups for up to two years.  Have you ever tried to get a vocalist NOT to sing?  They sing EVERYWHERE.  Other musicians use practice rooms, but singers use the hallways, bathrooms, cars, literally everywhere.  I watched a small group of singers at the White House today for the Day of Prayer and I’m telling you they were not wearing masks or staying 6 feet apart.  It’s just not in their DNA.  They seriously have to hug each other when they get together and singing is just an extension of the hugging, only it’s done musically.  Jazz hands from across the room just aren’t enough.

Someone is also doing studies with wind instruments to see just how much air comes out of the instrument and into the environment.  I hope they don’t find out just how much hot air trumpet players put out.  The one study I read actually said that other than flutes, there not that blast of air coming out of instruments you might think – it stays in the instrument. Drummers – I mean – percussionists,  are just laughing at all of us right now.  They can just keep banging away on whatever they want – tables, walls, pots and pans –  and it doesn’t affect anything.  I would have named other instruments, but they may be stuck in a building somewhere and you can’t get to them.

And I hear that some schools are checking the ventilation systems in ensemble rooms.  NOW, they’re checking the ventilation?  I’m not sure I ever rehearsed in a room that was big enough to handle the number of players involved.  I understand how Wagner felt when he began creating larger ensembles. Musicians are their own ventilation systems.  Everyone is breathing in and out together and there is no space in the room for fresh air because they’re packed in like sardines.  Have you ever smelled an ensemble room after the ensemble finishes?  ‘Nuff said. Chances are the rooms we’re in were never designed correctly in the first place, and certainly never considered ventilation.  Just a big square box with tile on the floor and some acoustic tile thrown on the walls is enough, right?  Musicians don’t care, remember, I told you we sing and play just about anywhere and everywhere. We could do all our music outside, but then we would all be marching bands.

Yes, musicians are flexible and hard working, no mater the circumstances.  That’s why the powers that be have created this conspiracy.  No matter how badly they treat musicians, we just have to keep making music.  We’re unstoppable.  Unless we’re mandated to shut down what we do.  Unless we’re told that as teachers we can’t make music with our kids in ensembles anymore.  But the joke is on them.  You see, as I’ve said before, music is organic.  It is part of who we are as human beings.  So, no matter how hard they try to stop the music, it will keep pouring out of us.  From tiny toddlers who make up tunes to trained opera singers, from kids that bang on pots with wooden spoons to those who play on steel drums, the music won’t die.

Perhaps to speak to people whose wallets speak louder than words, according to Economists Incorporated in Washington D.C. for the Recording Industry Association of America , in 2016, the music industry contributed $143 Billion to the U.S. economy and created 1.9 million jobs either directly or indirectly.  And where do you think these future musicians come from?  From those toddlers who grow up to be elementary students, who study general music, who are encouraged to participate in various types of ensembles, who continue to practice and improve in those big square, poorly ventilated rooms where they blow and spit on each other so that their music can help heal and calm and entertain and inspire the world around them.  Oh, the conspiracy is real.  From those who would prefer that musicians not make the world a better place.  Little do they know that it only makes us want to do it more.

Every newscast, every webpage and website, every meeting, every place we’re allowed to go.  Everything’s coming up Covid.  People are creating songs and parodies about it, they’re dancing and singing and playing instruments during quarantine because of it.  A wonderful thing, but we could be doing that without Covid.  Or we should have been doing it.  I’m ready to do those things without it.

Don’t get on me yet – I know I have first world problems.  My internet speed is too slow to keep up with all of the zoom meetings and lesson planning and video making and webinars that run all day at our place.  I actually had a slight panic attack yesterday when the internet went out because of things that were due in the next day or so and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it done.  Do you see what I’m saying here?  I’m afraid of having no internet, but I’m not afraid of Covid.

I don’t think I’m crazy.  I’m wearing gloves to pick up take out orders.  First world problems.  Do I really NEED to wear gloves?  It’s the first time in my life where I find myself wondering if the person who prepared my food washed their hands.  I think I’ve always been kind of ho hum about all that hand washing.  I’m educated, I understand the science behind the importance of  hand washing. After all, I raised three dig in the dirt, dig in their noses, dig up the dead deer antlers in the woods, kind of boys.  And yes they washed their hands – I’m pretty sure they did, anyway.  I’ve taught snotty, sneezy, phlegm filled, show me their loose teeth and scabs kids for 30 years.  Washing hands?  When I remind them.  It’s obviously important, it’s just never been thrust in my face like this before.  Ok , the snotty hands have, right before they give me a big hug. .

Do I get sick often?  Not really.  I catch a cold now and then and once in a very long while I get respiratory flu or even less frequently, and even less pleasant version.  I’m lucky. Did I come in contact with a kid, mine or someone else’s or a friend who had it?  Probably.  I wasn’t afraid I would catch it, although apparently I’m getting old enough to be concerned and I certainly understand that I don’t want to give anything to others.  However, it wasn’t something I wondered or worried about; “what if I catch this”?  “What if I get really sick?”  “What if I die?”  “What if I give this to someone else?”  We’re human beings.  We catch things.  People get sick.  Some get really sick.  I can’t live my life being afraid of the “what ifs”.  That’s not living.  But it’s only for a short time, right?  We just need to be patient.  For the next month.  Or 6 months.  Or 18 months.

Am I being insensitive to those who are suffering?  I’m really trying not to be.  Not that I haven’t seen suffering in a hospital, but most of this is beyond my imagination because I don’t know anyone who is dealing with this.  Are they suffering more than friends who are dealing with cancer treatments and amputations and heart attacks and strokes and aneurysms? I don’t know.  I’ve stayed in for nearly all the time we’ve been asked to.  Doug is our designated shopper once a week.  We go out for drives and stay in our car going through the park.  I wear my gloves when I handle things and wash hands afterwards.  I even wear a homemade mask on occasion.  I just can’t live like this.

Can we just not keep hearing about it everywhere?  How many cases, how many have died, how many people who mocked Covid who have died and how it served them right, how many frustrated people are speaking their minds in groups, how many people are judging those people speaking their minds in groups.  How many people together is too many, how soon is too soon, how old is too old.  Nobody knows.  Even the doctors and scientists can’t agree on everything.  The numbers differ depending on who is providing them.  I’m talking about the CDC and governing bodies, not, as I’ve heard people complain about, uneducated people on social media. There are too many variables.  Does it make a difference how densely populated a place is?  Probably.  Does it matter what people do for a living?  What about pre-existing conditions?  A newborn who died may not have any.  A 103 year old who survives – who knows.  We can’t find patterns where perhaps there are none.  And in the meantime, everything’s coming up Covid.

Maybe it’s too much information?  Maybe it’s to inform us, maybe it’s to scare us?  Maybe it’s to control us?  Maybe, maybe, maybe….  It’s so hard to know people’s intentions.  I tend to be a person who looks at at all sides of a situation before making a decision.  I also tend to be pretty pragmatic.  I can be a compliant team player.  I’m just not sure this time.  Maybe it’s the frustration, maybe a little bit of fear about our economic future, maybe I just don’t like being told what to do.  I can be that way.  Yes, I care about people but I can also care about other aspects like jobs and businesses for those people who aren’t as fortunate as I am.  I have a job I can do from home.  I still get paid.  I can’t get my hair or nails done.  First world problems.  Maybe it’s having too much time to think.  Especially when everything’s coming up Covid.

 

 

 

It is spoken of with concern by administrators and teachers alike.  It is researched and written about, with dire warnings about what happens to kids over the summer in terms of retention, or when they are out of school for any length of time.  For those students who struggle with behavior issues, those who don’t speak English or kids in and out of the foster system, educators speak with great concern about their “loss of learning”.  So, what is learning and can you lose it?

What exactly is “loss of learning”?  According to The Glossary of Educational Reform”,

The term learning loss refers to any specific or general loss of knowledge and skills, or to reversals in academic progress, most commonly due to extended gaps or discontinuities in a student’s education.

Authors write about children suffering from learning loss, or the problem of learning loss, or the phenomenon of learning loss.  So, let’s define learning.  According to Merriam-Webster, learning is the act or experience of one that learns OR knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study.  So learning is an action word, a process.  And while knowledge or skills may become rusty through lack of use, our brains are always learning.  If students are “losing learning”, did they ever really retain the information in the first place?

I don’t want to underestimate the importance of the 3R’s by any means, but there’s more to learning than a student sitting in a classroom or in front of a computer.  And learning is complicated.  It’s not like just anyone can shove the information in the student and have it retained.  It takes a great, experienced educator who understands how students learn in a variety of ways and how structured repetition plays a role in that learning.

It also depends on the student and their situation.  Are there any distractions at home,  is there a home at all, are they abused or hungry?  Do they speak another language or not have internet or do they have to watch their siblings after school. Are they staying up late looking at a screen because nobody at home makes them accountable or are they dashing to yet another practice or lesson? SO. MANY. FACTORS. And yet, despite the idea that students are “losing learning”, I can guarantee you that students in all of these situations are learning something, whether it’s survival skills or how to beat the system.  Learning never stops.  It’s WHAT they’re learning that we’re really concerned about, isn’t it?

What exactly are we really concerned about?  Perhaps it’s that the student won’t get through a prescribed curriculum, passing the appropriate testing at the appropriate levels for their age so that they can go to the next level and absorb more information that someone has determined they should?  Again, there are SO. MANY. FACTORS. at play here. And when this craziness we’re dealing with right now is “over”, whatever that may mean, are we going to go right back to worrying about “losing learning” or are we going to be concerned about the social emotional condition of the child?  Are we going to be frantically trying to figure out where to start with the new year so we can get the students “caught up” to grade level, or are we going to help them process what they’ve just lived through?  Are we going to pay attention to their basic needs first or are we going to try to zip through or ignore them in the name of “achievement”.

I’m not a researcher by any means, but I want to use the anecdotal evidence of my grandchildren, both of whom were in and out of foster homes, both of whom acted out in school, both of whom were sent away from school to learn how to behave before they could go back.  One of them not in school long enough to actually begin to learn how to read.  Their basic needs weren’t being attended to and because of that they were acting out and then sent away, while very well meaning teachers and support staff were concerned about how they were “losing learning”.

Fast forward to now.  Both have been adopted.  Both are having their basic needs taken care of and they are intensely loved by all of their adoptive family.  Oh, and the little one reads up a storm and they’re both above grade level.  Did they lose learning?  Perhaps for a period of time they weren’t learning the prescribed curriculum, but I guarantee you they were learning.  It wasn’t until they had their basic needs met that they could allow personal excitement for learning to began, encouraged by great teachers who cared and parents who followed through.

As our students are dealing with the current crisis, maybe they’re too distracted by life right now to really get into their classes like we would want them to.  Maybe their parents or guardians are too stressed to help them deal with it.  But humans will continue to learn, because that’s what we do.  Maybe they’ll learn how to do an art project on their front sidewalk, or create a song with their siblings.  Maybe they’ll figure out how to build something really cool from found objects.  Maybe they’ll learn how to do projects around the home, or learn how to drive or change the oil in the car.  Maybe they’ll learn how to cook something or play a new game.  All of these things are important, they’re just not our curriculum.  They’re not losing learning, they’re just learning something different and in a different way.  And when they come back to school, it will look different and we’ll all be learning together. Hopefully we’ll take the time to make sure their basic needs are taken care of as best we can before we jump into the nitty gritty, and then we can encourage them to learn those additional skills and concepts we’ve always taught.  And because we are professional educators, we’ll do it with all of the love and expertise we always do.

I don’t believe our students are going to lose learning while they’re not physically in school.  Not as long as we take the time to love them and allow them time to love learning when they return.

 

 

Pretty sure I ate most meals sitting on a curb or on an asphalt parking lot while in band.  The first lunch of band camp, band trips for football games and contests, sitting on the curb, many times eating KFC.  Not the most comfortable, but a place where we gathered with friends to laugh and talk while we were eating a meal.

As I grew older, because this band thing is still going on, I tried to find ways to make the band meal more comfortable.  Running out for a quick lunch, sitting on the bus or on bleachers but still taking the time to talk with friends and colleagues over whatever box lunch we were served.  It’s funny, but after all of the wonderful homemade meals we’ve had sitting around our dining room table together recently, we have occasionally ventured out with our masks and gloves to satisfy our craving for a not-so-good-for-us boxed meal of some kind.

As we waited yesterday afternoon in a line of cars that revolved twice around the boxed lunch restaurant of choice, I noticed a young woman sitting on the parking lot between two cars.  Seeing her immediately took me back to those band meals, and I found myself wondering why she was sitting there.  Was she an employee taking a break outside?  Did she want to eat it while it was still warm instead of driving it home to eat?  And then I noticed the two cars beside her.  Seated in each car, spaced safely apart were two older ladies, perhaps family members who were eating inside their cars having a conversation with the younger woman on the curb.

At that instant I teared up.  The fact that we were having to stay outside of the restaurant and everyone was having to wear masks and gloves didn’t bother me – it’s the way of the world right now.  But watching what looked to be a family doing what they needed to do in order to be together just to share a meal brought the tears.  It has been a month and a half since we’ve been able to have a meal with our kids and grandkids.  I didn’t realize how important that would be before all of this happened.  And now I would give anything to sit on a curb and have a boxed meal with them.

Maybe all this has happened to make us aware of how important family and those little things are.  A simple, inexpensive, boxed lunch with people you care about while sitting on a curb.

 

Tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the first Earth Day.  I know that young people will have a hard time believing this, but there was a time when people just used the earth for a giant trash can, at least in our country.  Seriously.  As a kid, I can remember the sides of the road or highway completely littered with trash where people had just thrown things out the windows of their cars.  Stuff was dumped into the water from all kinds of manufacturing plants, dead fish floated in lakes and bays.  Toxins were released into the air.  It was literally an ecological nightmare.

I’ll be honest, I was only 10 years old and although I remember seeing this, it was the way it had always been and so it didn’t seem that big a deal.  I do remember the commercial that came out with the Native American (who was actually an Italian American who played Native Americans) standing and looking at the trash with the tear rolling down his face.   The “People start pollution, people can stop it” phrase was a challenge of sorts and my elementary school took it seriously.

So on April 22, 1970, I and many students from my school went out with parents and teachers and worked to clean a vacant lot in my neighborhood where people had just been dumping their trash on a regular basis.  And I’m not just talking trash, there were old appliances and all kinds of things, with tall grass growing up through it.  Everyone was assigned a job and I remember picking up garbage with my friends on a Saturday morning while my mom was off doing something else.  I wasn’t in charge of the assignment obviously.  I remember having fun with my friends, so excited when the space was clean and some of the dads mowed down all that tall grass.  Look what we had done!

Then I walked home with one of my friends with the intention that we would play together that afternoon.  As we went to my front door, my mom was standing there, where she very calmly, with a smile on her face, told my friend that I had stuff to do that afternoon and maybe we could play later.  I was disappointed but ok.  And then the door closed and suddenly I was thrown into the wall.  She was screaming at me about how she had ended up babysitting little brothers and sisters all morning while the other parents got to help outside.  Why hadn’t I told the teacher what she had wanted to do?  As you can imagine, having been caught completely by surprise, I had no idea what to say and I don’t remember what happened next.  Now, before you are completely horrified, my mom used more scare tactics than anything else, but once in a while it got physical and I was terrified of her.  I’m not sure of what happened because I have blocked a LOT of stuff out. Looking back on this as an adult, I realize that as a stay at home mom with a 10 year old and a 6 year old, she was no doubt just beyond frustrated. I just happened to be there.

Needless to say, when Earth Day came up the next year, I didn’t want to hear about it, much less participate in it.  Or the next, or the next.  And 50 years later, Earth Day still brings up feelings in my stomach that I would rather forget.  It’s silly.  After all it was a long time ago.  And thankfully, so many things have changed since then.  But just as I was struck by the “people start pollution, people can stop it” then, as I look towards Earth Day tomorrow and see how the earth is rejuvenating itself while we are all stuck inside, I wonder if there really is a way for us to coexist.  After seeing what happens when we’re not involved, could we possibly have enough discipline and vision to keep it from going back to what it was just over a month ago?

Well, despite the fact that I will do my best NOT to think about Earth Day tomorrow, I do marvel at the earth itself as the trees bud and the leaves and flowers pop out, how the birds sing every morning outside my bedroom window and life just goes on.  Perhaps tomorrow is a day that we all make peace with the earth and other things that we need to let go of.  Perhaps we should spend the day marveling at the wonder of creation without interfering.  Maybe it’s a time to make peace with Earth Day.