01/31/2021
The last week of January. Students learning remotely all month (longer for some). It’s hard. Teaching them through the computer is hard. 💻 🎧Yes, technology has brought us closer -- we see and hear one another, and I marvel at this! At the same time, despite all this technological advancement, something is missing. That face to face element. 👩🏻🏫
We engage in mental health activities, to bring calm and balance. As teachers, we often hear background noises, cameras of students generally off and muted, while we teach to black screens. On Friday, we did a mental health check-in with the class. ✅ The range of coloured hearts in reply, varied. When class started, one of the students let us know with a 💜 that she was not doing well. She then abruptly left the Zoom call. After a few Google Classroom messages on the stream and a phone call home, she rejoined. Slowly throughout the day, she became more engaged. As her spirits lifted, on our chat her heart emoji went from 💚 to 🧡 and eventually ❤️.
Our class read aloud really helped. Thank you Judy Blume. 📖
This is why we do what we do. We help those around us, and in doing so, ultimately ourselves.
In my own home this week, there were a few meltdowns. None of them was Johnny. 🐕🦺 Ups and downs, and much communication and miscommunication later, we ended up back on the same page. For now. 👀 I spoke with my brother in law, who also had a tough week. Much time alone, editing work projects. 🖥 Gone is that getting out of our homes, for errands, outings, and social events. Human interaction. 🌎
We dig deep and find our solace wherever we can. Talking definitely helps. 👍🏽👍🏽
For me this week, it was work, even if from my laptop. It was cleaning the basement, after completed flood renovations. It was giving Johnny a much needed bath. It was my cousin’s recommendation, of Amazon Prime Video’s Yellowstone . 🤠 Small graces.
Burdens of a cold winter, staying at home, and not seeing family nor friends weigh on us all. People feel alone & are lonely. And I am sorry for this. 😞 It’s a lot of us feeling this way.
Let’s not lose faith. 🙏🏽
Blog Post:
January Blues 💙
www.makingtheworldsmaller.com 🌎
