Today is Blursday

W
e’re starting our fifth week of quarantine and I don’t know about you, but I’m struggling to know what day it is. 
I saw a meme that called it Blursday and that rang true for me. 
After our first official week of online learning, my mind is whirling trying to figure out how to make things better, easier, more effective and more individualized. 
I thought I was ready and “on it” so I would be able to seamlessly offer my kids a smooth online classroom. 
Turns out I was wrong. 
I’ve struggled with figuring out how to record lectures and offer those videos to my students. I’ve struggled to figure out how to make sure I am seeing all my students a couple of times a week. I’ve struggled with knowing how much is too much and how much is too little.
I am fortunate in that my classes were already set up in Google Classroom so my students are well versed in getting assignments, completing them and turning them in, but at the same time, with everyone at home and working remotely, internet service is not exactly top of the line.
Kids are working, sleeping in, and out of “school” mode. 
South Dakota has made the determination to finish the year online, and I expect that is coming soon for Wyoming as well.
The spring sports seasons have been cancelled by the WHSAA, so students have had to deal with that reality. 
With all that students have had to adjust to, we teachers have also had to make huge adjustments. We are struggling with the unknown just as much as the students. We miss our kids, and we miss each other, and we miss the school and our classrooms. 
I’ve felt a great deal of satisfaction seeing posts on social media saying that teachers will never again be taken for granted, and that people outside of education (who have school aged children) are suddenly understanding how challenging the profession of teaching really is.
But at the same time, I also recently saw someone on social media wondering why teachers are being paid right now if parents have to teach their kids.
I’m wondering if that parent is aware that teachers have been working harder than ever these last few weeks, figuring out how to educate their students without being with their students. 
There is not one of us who is happy that COVID-19 has ripped us from our buildings, our classrooms, and the arenas of our extracurricular activities, and most importantly, from our students so abruptly without a chance to say “until we see each other again”. 
When we hold our virtual classes, we are grateful that we get to at least see our kids for a few minutes. Students are also happy to be there, to see their friends, and dare I say, see their teachers?
We also get it that this is a super stressful time for parents. Not only are they having to figure out how to provide for their families with the economic shutdown we are experiencing, but they are also having to take on the added responsibility of facilitating the education the schools are attempting to provide.
These times we are living in are unprecedented. We are all in this together to not only figure out how to work together to help our students, but also to figure out what day it is.