I start every class period at the door, smiling behind my mask as I greet students with a pump bottle of hand sanitizer. My students know hand sanitizer is required for admission to our computer lab. This is just part of the new normal of in-person learning during a pandemic.
Some of my middle schoolers come with a hand outstretched, ready as they approach. Others juggle their binder, books, and Chromebooks to free a hand. Every once and awhile a student tells me about a cut on their hand and asks to go to the bathroom to wash their hands instead.
There are also times I’m less than accurate about where the hand sanitizer lands. Even when the hand sanitizer ends up hitting their leg before landing on the floor, no one complains about my inaccuracy. And no one complains about having to wear masks.
Occasionally I’ve seen a student’s mask slip below their nose as they pass me in the hallway. Eye contact plus “masks up, please” is all it takes. Instead of eye rolling and sass that can be so typical of this age, a student often looks at me sheepishly before apologizing and pulling their mask back up over their nose.
Students have embraced the routines that are a part of being back in school because they don’t want to go back to virtual learning. We all agreed the first day of school that being in person was far better than being at home.
There were some advantages to virtual school like a little more sleep thanks to the absence of early morning bus rides. We enjoyed later start times and longer and more leisurely lunches, but we missed school as we knew it and we missed each other.
The few advantages of virtual school don’t outweigh the benefits of being back in person. However, I can tell my students are concerned that school could shut down.
When I finish explaining the day’s lesson and ask if there are questions, a hand will sometimes go up asking me about staying in school.
- If I’m sick, do I have to stay home?
- What if someone I know has COVID. Do I have to quarantine?
- What if someone in the class gets COVID? Do we all have to stay home?
- Who will be my teacher if I have to stay home and quarantine?
- When could I come back to school?
These questions are part of our new normal of in-person learning during a pandemic.
School shut down anxiety is real. We’ve been there. We don’t want to go back to what we know wasn’t good for our kids because it wasn’t good for us either.
