How I miss the days of opening my classroom door for students and having them all rush in at once- excited for a day of interactions with classmates and friends. I miss having them do activities together. I miss buddy reading. I miss having their desks arranged in pairs or groups. I miss having a carpet and a comfy couch in the classroom. I miss a lot of things that were once normal. But prioritizing their safety comes before all else. So the these small comforts and enjoyments will have to sit on the back burner for now.
For now, when I open my classroom door, I greet my students with a bottle of hand sanitizer. I stagger a few students in at a time in order to ensure physical distancing. Some days it is raining and the poor kids at the end of the line are waiting for 5 minutes in the pouring rain. After sanitizing and putting their backpacks and jackets away, they head straight to their physically distanced placed desk.
My classroom layout is now very boring and retro. Desks take up the entire classroom. They are neatly placed in rows of 5-6, ensuring as much spaced in-between rows as possible (about half a foot). Just to be clear- this does not stop the children from being the inherently social beings that they are- I am constantly reminding them to turn around and move their chairs back to their desks so that they are not too close to their classmates- or they have the choice to wear a mask if they want to be that close to a classmate. Just to be clear- students are not required to wear masks, infact we can not enforce them to wear masks- we can only suggest that they do. For grade 5/6- they are learning to use their voices when they feel that something is unjust- so when I make these requests they question my authority (which I don’t blame them for). “So I can’t sit next to Fred in the classroom without a mask on, but when we go onto the playground for recess in 15 minutes I can sit next to him without a problem? How does that make sense Mrs.Atwal?” to which I usually answer, “I’m trying my best to keep you safe- I can’t run around behind you all day to make sure you are doing the same- but in the classroom I have to know that I’m making my best effort to prioritize your health and safety.” Although they are certainly correct- it makes absolutely no sense. The students are allowed to be unmasked in the classroom, and join another unmasked class (the other class in their cohort) outside during recess and lunch- but they can’t have their grandparents over for dinner because apparently THAT’S the way the virus spreads. I agree that we shouldn’t be having family gatherings- but keep it consistent. Stopping family gatherings are not going to help if schools continue to operate the way they do.
We have been told that it is okay share paper and books, so next I have handout monitors hand out workbooks. The students spend the morning at their desks, not having much room to walk around or for social interaction. One person is allowed to go to the bathroom at a time to prevent hallway traffic. The boys bathroom is about 10 feet to the left of our classroom, but since the hallways are now one way, they must walk out to the right and walk around the entire donut shaped school to go the bathroom. Before recess, I have them pass their work forward (to prevent them from getting up and gathering by the hand in bin). I have them get up to get their coats in groups, and then they await the bell. They are free for 15 minutes to be kids. When they come back, a student has the job of being the bouncer. They let 6 students in at a time. The first student turns on the water, puts soap on their hands, walks to the back of the line scrubbing their hands, and then the other 5 do the same until the first student is back at the front. That first student has now been rubbing soap on their hands for about 20 seconds and rinses it off and dries, and then the next 5 do the same. This system has gotten our hand washing time down from 20-25 minutes to about 5-7 minutes. Once students have clean hands, they go to their bags and get their snacks. As they eat their snacks, I read aloud to them. Once they have finished snacks and read aloud is complete, I call them up in groups to put away their snacks in their bags- all of course to prevent traffic in the coat room. This routine is repeated once again at lunch. We sanitize our hands a bunch throughout the day even with the rigid hand washing routines. I sanitize common materials such as iPads and noise cancelling headphones multiple times a day. I sanitize any materials I allow students to borrow before and after use.
However, I still feel constantly anxious. I wear a mask and face shield at all times- yet I still get extremely nervous when a student comes close too me or touches my desk (my safe sanitized zone). It is also very isolating. I don’t see many other staff members since we have staggered breaks, and only 6 people can be in the staff room at a time- so I’ve stopped trying to even go in there. I don’t want schools to close- I love being back in the classroom and getting to interact with my students- but I don’t feel safe. I worry about myself and my students. I worry that I will catch something and bring it back to my parents or in-laws who are older with compromised immune systems. I worry about giving it to Soliyah. I come home and replay the day in my head over and over again, and find times of the day where I could have been safer. Maybe a time I picked up my phone without sanitizing my hands first or a moment I rubbed my eye. It is a lot and my mental health is definitely suffering. I’m not sure what the solution is. Having school online sucks- but having ill children and families sucks more. I just wish the government would make a consistent decision instead of using teachers as glorified baby sitters to keep the economy going. Schools and districts are doing their best to follow protocols, but this is essentially another low funded and selfish government maneuver. In the end, teachers and students are suffering because of it. I know I can’t be the only person who feels that their physical and mental health are being toyed with.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any suggestions for creating a safer learning environment? Comment below.
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