Category: word of the day

On March 13, 2020, we got the word that all schools in Ohio were going to close for the Coronavirus pandemic. In a matter of days, we had to switch from face-to-face teaching to online learning with little guidance. It was uncharted territory. When we came back in August, it was decided we needed to stay remote learning. We were given guidance this time on how to proceed. It’s been a rocky road these first 6 weeks of teaching to be honest. I’m still learning on the job.

Yesterday, I learned we were going to switch back to face-to-face teaching in a hybrid model. Students are going to come to school 2 days a week and 3 days online. I don’t know how that is going to work which is scary. I’m a special education teacher that typically sees a lot of students who come in and out of my resource room. Prior to the shutdown, I was seeing 40 plus students during a typical week. They were constantly switching from their classroom to my room, & vice-versa.

Obviously, I am nervous about the switch back to face-to-face teaching.

Stay kind!

Have a magical day,
Traci

For more word of the day posts, visit Word of the Day Challenge.

Last Saturday, we went to see a private showing of Sonic the Hedgehog. As we were driving home, my teenage boys decided to squabble about the ending of the movie. Oldest told Youngest he needed to turn his brain off and just enjoy the movie instead of analyzing it. Youngest didn’t like the ending. He told us the movie was good for it being based on a video game.

I sat in the driver’s seat trying not to laugh at their squabble. It was a matter of a difference of opinion on how you enjoy the movie. Do you turn your brain off and just be entertained or do you analyze the plot?

For other blog posts about the word squabble, please visit Word of the Day Challenge.

In Social Studies, we have been teaching and discussing different explorers who came over to North America. This week, we are learning about Ferdinand Magellan. At one point in his journey, they ran out of food, became malnourished, and had to rely on eating the rawhide pieces of the boat. I could not imagine being that hungry that I needed to eat dried pieces of leather to survive. That lack of real food would not sustain me.

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2020/09/30/sustain/

Exhausted and frustrated from technology woes,

Hunger rang throughout my body,

I took a deep breath as I logged onto Zoom,

And reminded myself, “You can do this.”

“Good morning, T!” rang out of my mouth.

“How are you today?” I questioned him.

The lesson flowed,

We spent the hour learning about sequencing and subtraction,

Knocking on the place value next door to borrow ten more,

Making sure to take a break for jumping jacks between sessions,

After saying good-bye on a high from an excellent intervention,

I continued onto the next two students.

Once again, frustration flowed through my veins,

As I remotely helped a student log in,

Singing over, the password is . . .

My corybantic self made one student laugh,

While the other told me I was corny.

This the life of a special educator teaching remotely.

One moment you are feeling on top of the world,

Corybantic wanting to pass on that joy.

The next moment, you feel defeated,

And tears fill your eyes.

This moment will pass.

It’ll be one of those stories you’ll tell when you are old.

The ones that will cause your children and grandchildren to roll their eyes.