Shout Out to all Teachers!

Students were to return to in-person classes this week but because of the pandemic their winter break has been extended. In some provinces across Canada, just a couple of days while in other places they have a longer break. My niece teaches in Quebec and she has to go back tomorrow to prepare for a week of online learning and then her students might be returning to class after January 17, 2022. The uncertainty is very challenging for all educators.

I asked my niece if all her students had computers and she said they had chrome notebooks (1:1) but the students would have to come to the school to pick them up. She wished they had known they would be going back to online learning before the winter break as they would have sent the chrome books home with their students when classes ended before Christmas. Teachers have to be so flexible and be able to pivot at a moment's notice.

I know it is frustrating for parents to find alternative ways to care for their kids when classes are cancelled and some take their frustration out on the teachers. Some say teachers are getting an extra holiday and maybe spring break should be cancelled to make up the missed class time. What? Teachers still have to go to work. They have extra work to do, not a longer break! Imagine if you had to figure out a new way to help your students learn the mandatory curriculum. Figure new and creative ways to keep your students engaged. I am thankful I don’t have to do that.

I am a retired teacher and I volunteer at our local library in the Adult Literacy program called Read On. I teach the Math Class. Since Covid I’ve had to pivot and teach my classes online. Fortunately my classes are quite small. I quickly learned how to do zoom and all my class time is done from home. I can’t imagine teaching all the other subjects online and trying to keep a large class engaged in the lesson. My class often becomes a 1 on 1 session and that is very manageable and helpful for my adult students, but can you imagine working with a class of 30 students at one time.

My bell today is an old fashioned school bell. As I said, I am a retired teacher. I taught for over 39 years and one of my assignments was on a Hutterite Colony teaching grades 1-9 in a one room school. There was no automatic bell to remind students to return to class when they headed out for recess. I had a bell similar to the one in the picture to ring and to call them back in!

Pray for your kids' teachers. Encourage them. Tell them how much you appreciate them. A kind word of thanks can make such a difference.

# living life abundantly   # published author