Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
COVID has brought on so many changes and so much unknown. I have had the gorgeous opportunity to witness a school district open a hybrid model. In a nutshell, it is when half the students are in person and the other half are being taught remotely. It is taking an old paradigm, the traditional classroom, and trying to make it fit into a new model, a remote classroom. I am not going to get into the politics or opinions of these models, but what I want to share is what I have observed and the beautiful lesson that we are all struggling with.
I have watched teachers and administrators work long hours to prepare for such an opening. The amount of information, restrictions, and coordination of efforts it has and continues to require is incredible. The image that comes to mind is a person straddling two floating islands that keep moving further and further away from each other. One foot on one island, and the other foot on the other island. Just as they figure out how to move the islands closer to get a more secure footing, something happens and the tide shifts and the islands float apart again. Shaking their foundation. The beauty in all of this is the creative energy and problem solving that is going on. Inventions made out of necessity. To be witness to such a time as this is incredible. To witness the ingenuity, the perseverance, the flexibility, and the stamina it takes to straddle these two models.
What fuels these people to keep going? I am in awe as I watch the dedication, the compassion, and the cries for help. How each person helps the other. Some teachers are a little more tech savvy. Some teachers are more classroom savvy. Each brings their expertise to the table. On top of all of that, there is worry. They worry for the safety of themselves, their colleagues, and their students. They deal with their own anxiety and the anxiety of their students and their student’s families.
I am not sure what a post COVID classroom will look like, but the teachers, students, and administrators in the thick of it are pioneering a new era. History has taught us about the dark ages, the renaissance, the industrial age, etc…. We are part of history!