Shofar

It's always fitting that the month of Elul and the beginning of the school year align. Elul is a time of returning to Gd as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It's a time to re-commit to what we know to be true, and to lay bare our vulnerabilities.

Returning to the classroom brings the same drive. If a person doesn't feel vulnerable and afraid with the abstract concept of facing Gd, they certainly can while counting down the minutes to prepare a classroom, welcome a new set of students and preparing to face any number of challenges and tension that a new school year has in store. 

This year is no different, but the stakes are higher. It's so much harder to plan now, what will the year look like? What sudden shifts will we need to make? What an awesome responsibility to be a captain on a ship in these waters for a group of vulnerable children who might not only be afraid of the voyage, but might demonstrate their anxiety in all sorts of ways that make the navigation that much more challenging.

In 30 minutes I'll be "back at school" but starting the day from my couch and attending first meetings on Zoom. Strange. I'll go to school but be asked to distance from colleagues. Strange. I will bring back with me some of the books I brought home when we went virtual, but not many of them. I don't want to have to lug them back again afterwards. Strange.

I'm also blowing shofar daily for myself and family, driving our experience of Elul and drawing down strength from above. Not so strange. 

But powerful. 

How To Be A Teacher During the Summer of 2020

Step 1: Collapse

Despite all your years, and all of your experience, you started from scratch, you gave it your all during the time of year when you were supposed to be winding down. You deserve this.

Step 2: Veg

Whatever way works for you...

Step 3: Worry

If you aren’t good at this, try taking stock every day of every symptom you might have. Make sure to read articles about well-meaning selfless people contracting the disease and dying fast.

Step 4: Commiserate

Make sure every conversation includes words and phrases from the following menu:

“What is the _____________(Governor/principal/president/camp office) thinking?”

“How am I supposed to... 

Mask

Plexiglass

Social distancing

Antibodies

Fatality

Step 5: Revisit steps 3 and 4. 

Step 6: Learn

You’ve provided yourself on professional development courses or classes every summer. You need it again more than ever. 

Step 7: Practice

Classes taken, what new skills do you need? Schoology? Google Tools? 

Step 8: Reignite

Visit Pinterest such as the beautiful beach scene classroom created by the teacher who put colorful umbrellas on top of the new plexiglass surrounded desks. Don’t read the downer wet blanket comments from people who are still on Step 4.

Step 9: Inspire

Don’t let someone else put out your flame. Share your enthusiasm with others. Fake it until you make it if you’re still lagging behind. Commit to protecting your own health as you blaze forward.

Step 10: Teach

This is what you’re made for. This is what you love. This is what is needed.

End of August

 My former writing group invited me back for an August Write-A-Thon. Write something every day. I'm sharing this one here:

End of August

Yesterday I saw an airplane, the kind of airplane I usually would have boarded by now to visit my parents across the country. 

Tonight I went for a walk on my street, the same neighborhood I’ve walked almost every day for the past six months. I heard crickets, the same kind of cricket sounds I usually hear by now when we meet up with my college roommate from out of state and go camping, a camping trip we promised ourselves annually as soon as I moved to the east.

Just now I had a hug, a hug I’m grateful for, from my husband, the only person allotted to giving them to me right now.