During a Pandemic, Sometimes Store Bought is the Best Option

Back at the end of March, I got in touch with @gnichols about being a part of Cohort21 after a 3 year gap.  I wanted to become involved again after the Master’s course I am doing got me thinking about Professional Learning Communities – C21 immediately came to mind as the most productive and valuable I had been involved with.  I was on maternity leave with my then 5 month old son.  Then lockdown hit!

Flash forwards to September and I went back to school in the ‘new normal’ hybrid world… I have been meaning to post for a few weeks, but have been feeling like I didn’t really have anything meaningful or useful to contribute.  Then a couple of weekends ago, my son turned 1.  After a hectic week, although I am usually a keen baker, it got to Friday and I simply didn’t have the energy to bake his first birthday cake (bring on the mummy guilt!). I went store bought.  Once all the video calls and virtual festivities had subsided the next day, I reflected on what had been a lovely, if unconventional day.  If you had asked me 12 months earlier what my newborn son’s first birthday would look like, things would have been a little different.

Now, a couple of weeks later, my lasting memories will be: we did all the birthday things, he had fun, we ate what turned out to be very nice cake.  After 6 weeks of hybrid teaching, this is also how I am starting to feel about my teaching during the pandemic – now I am back into my stride a little, we will have some great (and some ok) days, my students will remember some of what we learn, the lasting memory will hopefully be that we were all faced with a challenging situation, but made the best of it and managed to have some fun anyway.

Maybe it is time to start sharing some ideas (among friends) with people who are in the same boat… Here is my Action Plan: post about one thing that worked each week.

4 thoughts on “During a Pandemic, Sometimes Store Bought is the Best Option

  1. Welcome back, Laura! I am in a similar boat – was on mat leave during first lockdown and am back to work now doing the hybrid teaching thing. I am looking forward to following your blog and learning from you about the things that are working!
    And it sounds like you already have somewhat, but go ahead and release ALLLLL that mommy guilt. It’s so hard sometimes, but we have to!
    – Jen

    1. Hi Jen,

      Congratulations on your little one! I hope you are settling back into the term, being back at work by now too. Thanks for your moral support 🙂 I am a bit more into my stride now after 7 weeks of hybrid teaching and starting to enjoy exploring new opportunities the current situation offers in terms of teaching approaches. This year has already provided some memorable moments, including one day a few weeks ago when my son was at home from daycare with a runny nose, I was allowed to teach from home (thankfully), a guy was trying to fix our furnace, an amazon parcel was delivered, and my son crawled off to start emptying my sock drawer – this all gave my Grade 10 class a good laugh! I am sure this will be one of many entertaining anecdotes I will be able to recount later, once things get back to normal (hopefully soon).

      I look forward to sharing ideas and stories with you over the coming months,
      Laura

  2. Thanks Laura, if you haven’t already, check out “Checking In” by Susan Cain – it’s a podcast that encourges, guides and supports us to determine how to let things go, shift one’s perspective away from ‘precious’ and towards ‘enduring’. Highly recommended!

    1. Hi Garth,

      Thanks for the recommendation, I will check it out. I enjoyed reading her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts – since I am a fully paid up member of the club! One of the things that has been good for me over the last year, adapting to my new role, is that I have reflected on what’s important to me, this has given me fresh motivation to pursue what really matters (in my own quiet, under the radar sort of way!)

      It has been interesting to see how different students have responded to the new normal, often in unexpected ways. I think some introverted students have actually found their voice through things like the chat function and shared docs, with the need to verbalize their ideas reduced. In some ways, more extroverted students have had to adapt more to less immediate interaction and fewer opportunities to speak out than before. It will be interesting to see how this dynamic develops during the course of the year.

      Thanks for sharing,
      Laura

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