This week my teaching partners and I had our usual Wednesday morning Google Meeting to plan Distance Learning for our 6th and 7th grade English students. Planning this week was different, though. We were planning for the last week of school and for the very last day of the school year. We looked at each other through our web cams and wrestled with the obvious question that hung between us, “How do we wrap up a school year in a meaningful way and say the good bye we never really had the chance to say on March 13th?”
Even after I suffered a stroke five years ago, and I wasn’t medically able to return to school to teach, I managed a visit at the end of the year for just a short bit to say good bye. I remember how excited and nervous I was to see the kids again. I took my usual place, up front in the center of the room on my stool. When you’ve taught for lots of years, that’s all it takes to reengage in the teaching process-a spot up front and an audience of children. I started by expressing how disappointed I was that we’d been cheated out of half a year together because of my stroke. I then told them a funny story about my time in the rehabilatation hospital, and as they left we hugged and shared high fives. But this year there will be no funny stories, no high fives and, of course, no hugs.
Faced with the limitations of Distance Learning, the tradition of closing the school year will look very different. I made a short farewell video message for my 6th graders and another for my 7th graders. I embedded a song for each. For the 7th graders I played “For Good” from The Wicked soundtrack and for my sweet 6th graders I chose “So Long, Farewell” from The Sound of Music. Now under normal circumstances, I would have to keep the last-day-of-school giddy students settled and listening to the lyrics to fully appreciate the sentiment. I’d probably have to squeeze in a round of “Drama on the Spot,” one of our favorite whole group games, while we wait to be dismissed to take our seats at the annual Talent Show. Instead, this year they will watch the video on their own at home. Maybe they’ll watch. This year I’ve also invited all of them to drop in to a Google Meeting Open House to say good-bye and tell me about their summer plans. We’ll see how many kids actually pop-in as participation in Distance Learning has been waning, for sure.
This school year is ending in the strangest of ways, and I mourn the loss of the ritual of school. I’ll miss our tradition of waving to the kids as the busses pull away for a final time, carrying all the kids home for the summer. Since we are all already home this year on the last day of school, we’re not really saying good-bye to each other as much as we are saying good-bye to Distance Learning. The good-bye to my students is just for the summer, but I do hope with my whole heart that the goodbye to Distance Learning is forever. A foolish hope, perhaps, but it’s all I’ve got.
moreteachingmoments 