We Can Disagree and Still Be Kind To Each Other

  We are a couple of weeks from when school was supposed to start in Arizona. School was supposed to start August 4 in Tempe School District TD #3. Due to Covid - 19 the opening date has been pushed out to August 17. By the time you read this it will probably be changed again. This whole summer for teachers and for parents has been a summer of not knowing. In Arizona, the Covid -19 numbers are continuing to rise. Even the Covid - 19 numbers are not agreed upon by many. Many companies have closed offices permanently including Microsoft, realizing employees can work from home and then the businesses aren't paying rent for a space for the employees to work. For schools, there is a push by the Federal Government to open schools for in person learning with guidelines such as wear a mask, maintain 6 ft distance, do not share supplies, smaller class sizes, extra cleaning and sanitizing. The Federal Government has not said anything about giving more funding to the school districts to do these things like pay for masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, touchless water bottle fountains, more teachers so we can have small class sizes, more cleaning supplies and more custodians to sanitize the school, but the government has threatened to take away federal funding if schools do not open in person. I would like to know one company that said to their employees now that you are working from home we are going to pay you less. Or a company that said, "You just want to work from home so you don't have to work as much." This is what people are saying about teachers. We want to work from home because it's less work. All these companies where the offices are closed and the employees are working from home, the employees are working just as hard if not harder. We as teachers would rather be at school with our students then to try to have online classes with a five year old. Teaching online is more work for us! Especially when this not how we normally teach. All of our lesson plans are no longer doable. For me my district has not decided. Many districts including mine, wrote a letter to the Governor and have not received a response. The other push has been from parents who want their kids to go back to school in person so they can get work done from home. Some parents are outside of the house working as well so it's not doable for them to leave their kids at home working on the computer while they go to work. I get it! I had three boys. All a year apart. What was I thinking? I know you can't leave them alone and expect them to do their work. Especially if they are younger. Even the high school kids are hard because so many are not motivated about school. The Governor has a lose - lose decision to make. No matter what he decides, one side will be mad. That's his job! In a week I would normally be going back excited to set up my classroom. This year, I don't even know if I'm setting up a classroom or trying to find ways to engage and help my special education students online. I do not know if I'm teaching from home or from school. So many unknowns. Thank goodness for yoga. 

  Last week I was really struggling with the anxiety of not knowing and the feeling of waiting and waiting. I finally came to remember that a watched microwave never beeps and standing by the toaster waiting for the toast doesn't make it come any faster. I had been waiting for a package, a shirt I bought from China. Beating myself up, why did I buy this online not knowing it was from China? The tracking of the package was terrible!  Every time I would click on the tracking number to see when it was going to be delivered it was still in China or sitting in Jamaica, NY Customs Department. I was starting to get frustrated with my order. Thinking about canceling it, but knowing that the company has responded to my emails about shipping, they weren't going to respond to giving me a refund either. So I decided to just wait it out and stop checking the tracking everyday because it was just making me mad. Saturday morning I got up early to hike with a friend I have not seen in quite a while another teacher from a different school district. We walked around the park, talked about her districts online plan, had a delicious breakfast on the patio at First Watch and then went out to Rhibafarms to pick up a produce box that I ordered. I had been wanting to go to Rhibafarms for several months, but they are only open on Saturdays and for a while I was teaching yoga and cycle every Saturday. I realized I needed to take days off for myself to explore and have adventures on weekends. My friend and I had a great time on the farm. I come home excited to show my husband all the produce that came in the box I ordered. We started thinking about all the things to make with our new goodies. As the morning has gone by busy full of exploring, the mail has now come. My husband comes in and tosses a small bagged package at me. Of course I don't know what it is! Last time I checked my shirt was still sitting in Customs. I get my bag pulled open and it's my shirt. I laughed! I hadn't checked on it and had just come to the point of letting it go. I will arrive when it arrives. Then it arrives! The anxiety has nothing to do with the action, it has to do with how I react to it. I was constantly checking emails and checking the tracking thinking it would come faster. Remembering God's timing is always perfect. The Universe has a plan. You will receive it when it's time. 

  Trying to use this same lesson to remember that the not knowing must be a necessary part of this plan. My path must include eliminating any anxiety in waiting and not knowing. Knowing that the anxiety of not knowing is because it is a huge reminder that I am not in control. I like to be in control and my district is not in control, my principal is not in control. This is bigger than all of us! Whether you believe students should go back in person now or go online until October or when the Covid-19 numbers start to decrease, we need to remember when we feel like we can't control something we hold on tight to everything else and try to control it. This creates more anxiety and stress. We all have experiences and beliefs that we use to make decisions and as parents and teachers we all want what is best for the students. BE KIND when someone explains their plan for the 2020 - 2021 school year. They are just trying to do the best they can based on their knowledge and experience  When we know better, we do better. For now we are all learning. This is new to all of us! BE KIND!