School's Out. For...??

When we got notice that Sacramento County was closing all schools, the call was three weeks of closure. This would take my school district right up to Spring Break, leading to four weeks off campus, three with some distance learning, and one freebie. Teachers would come back as planned on April 13th, and students on the 14th.

Then Governor Newsom told us all on live TV that he'd told his daughter she very likely won't go back to physical school until August. Okay, so maybe that will be the case.

But as time goes on (and it's only been a week but it feels like a lot longer), it's becoming more likely by the minute that California schools will remain closed until the summer break. For the record, there has been no official notice. It's just very, very likely, and today Virginia made that move.

And so, another uncertainty. If we are to remain closed, will be move to formal online learning? How will we track student attendance? What will grading look like? How do we ensure our students who are required extra support (via IEPs or 504 plans) receive that support effectively? Obviously, these are not questions that I have to find the answers to--I have district and school administrators to do that. Still, I worry and wonder.

But otherwise, I just keep on. Today I finally established a routine for myself, getting up to work out at 6:00, followed by a shower and my usual breakfast. I was at my school computer by 8:00, ready to go. It's been a productive day as far as knocking some things off my list and making contact with my students. I'm still figuring out exactly what to teach, because most of my kids don't have access to an instrument, and there's only so much online rhythm-reading they're going to do before we all want to throw our laptops out the window.

I am, however, trying to give them some fun stuff. For my art classes, links to virtual tours of the British Museum in London and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Activities as I can find them that are easy to access and educational.

It's...not easy. By a long shot. I'm lucky, however, to have some amazing colleagues (the text thread between the middle school team has been informative, hilarious, and so needed) to help me navigate this. We are a good team, and I'm grateful to have them.