It is time to begin the countdown to return to our public schools for the professional development activities that occur the week before students return to school! In reality, we won’t even know what this might look like for another three days, when our school board meets to decide. The main things that we know are that families will have the option of in-person school or remote/virtual school. Masks will be optional. Did I mention that our state of Tennessee is in one of the “hot spots” with COVID-19? Our county hospital has only one COVID-19 bed left right now. Our mayor and his wife just tested positive with this virus, and they have three school age children.
I found this chart interesting. Since March, I haven’t been past a risk of 4, and that would be waiting in a doctor office waiting room. I have missed many of the things that the kids and I enjoyed, like going to amusement parks, concerts, and movies.
In preparation for having to provide remote learning, I have started to create my classes on Google Classroom. It takes a long time to create lessons for an online platform. In person, I just take my curriculum, and go for it. For the remote format, I have to go internet searching for videos and supporting information, and create documents and activities. I will use zoom to meet with remote students and discuss the lessons. In some cases, we may just go through the lesson materials together online. I am finding lesson creation to be very satisfying.
In the event that I need to be in close proximity to others, I have this hat with face shield. I am a teacher….not an experienced healthcare worker. We do not get actual medical grade PPE. I question whether we will even get actual disinfectant to use in our rooms, as there is none to be found in stores. There will be no Lysol wipes on the wish list this year, as they are nonexistent!
There is no use getting upset about being called to the new Covid-19 testing ground of public schools. There is a family medical leave act that can be used if we start, and it looks haphazard and disorganized to the point of being too risky. I have started preparing friends who I may need to call on if I get sick. I have four people in my home who depend on me to do all the errands and shopping as well as meal prep and medication sorting. I can’t do those things from a quarantine bedroom!
On a lighter note, here are a few slightly snarky things about our pandemic predicament that made me laugh…
Ha! I live in the heart of “anti-mask” land. Opinions are abundant here!
Stay safe!
~AoA
Army of Angels: Part 2 
One thought on “9 Days- Countdown to Re-Entry”