That’s it. I’m done! I’m over this whole ‘remote teaching’, ‘distant learning’ whatever you want to call it thing. It’s been 2 months since I’ve been in the classroom with my kiddos. They are over it. That’s not to say that I think we should ‘go back to normal’. I mean, there’s still this whole pandemic thing happening.
I have class daily, and that is probably part of the problem. Or maybe it’s not. Today in class one student commented that no one ever turns on their camera anymore. The student was right. I don’t blame them. When I have meetings with adults, I often turn my camera off. So I get it. This whole thing has gotten to us all.
And, no, I don’t want to go back to ‘normal’. ‘Normal’ was me being the outsider in all this. I was the ‘techie’ one. I do see this as an opportunity to push boundaries and rethink how we teach (with 30 kids in the classroom at once). I’m figuring we won’t have 30 kids in our class at once which leaves things looking different in the fall.
Another student said that they were ‘tired of doing work online’. I couldn’t agree more! And I’m a pretty extreme introvert! I want to see my students. I want to do a ‘normal’ 5K run with my friends at some ungodly hour on the weekends. I want to go to my friend’s house and hang out, in the house, not worrying about social distancing. I want to close all my rings on my watch and stop getting fat! This homebound thing is killing me. I run on the treadmill, but struggle to close those damn rings. And I even miss my extroverted friend dragging me to the beach, and concerts, and where ever. And sushi! I want sushi damn it. I have to drive an hour to get to a place.
So, while I’m over it all, I will continue to practice social distancing, wear a mask, obsessively sanitize hands and anything I touch outside my home (looking at you shopping carts and keypads).
How are you all doing? Have you cracked yet? It’ll get better, this I know, but right now it’s just sorta hard.
Nowa Techie 
I miss dragging you places!
My sentiments nearly exactly!
Thanks for sharing this Lisa— you are a voice for both techie and non-techie folks. Tonight at a training I asked for 1 word that describes they experience with distance learning. 5 out of 8 were “frustrating”. Online learning is good… in moderation. I took an online advanced algebra course last June… all online, 1 month of pure hell. Of course, that was distance learning done badly. I hope we come out of this better than before. Take care
I agree online learning can be good. The problems we are currently facing are many: pandemic, ‘mandatory’, unprepared, unsure, inequity, and the list goes on. I too have taken online courses; I got my MA online. The difference is that I WANTED to do it that way. My 5th graders have no choice. Many teachers weren’t ready to do something like this and are doing it on the fly. Students want to be with their friends in many cases. I also hope that after all is said and done, we take advantage of all that we have experienced and make education better for all.