Silver Linings

When I sat down to write my last blog (29th Feb) hoping to implement innovative practices that I had learnt in my professional learning trip to Barcelona in January, I had no idea what was just around the corner. In our current time, who would have thought that just over 5 months ago I was in another country! COVID brought around a ‘new normal’ that I never thought I would live through. 

It’s also hard to believe that I would be saying, even amidst this global pandemic, we would still be able to find some silver linings. Yet, after reflecting, the positivity in my realistic (some would say pessimistic) attitude has shone through. 

I think it’s safe to say that in the past 4 months we have gone above and beyond to do everything we can, to work our hardest and, even though it has been extremely difficult at times, stayed positive. So I definitely think we have a shot at a silver lining. 

So here are mine…

  • Working at new school for the last two and a half years I have often reflected on the feeling of ‘drowning’ or trying to fly a plane and build it at the same time. This has made me more flexible in my teaching and thus prepared me for what we were thrown into during the many phases of home/online/connected/face2face learning.
  • The silver linings for our students were many. One of the many messages we got from our students, apart from missing their friends and being able to run around outside, was that they were enjoying spending so much time with their parents and families, which they normally wouldn’t be able to do. 
  • This was also a silver lining among the parents in our learning community. Parents who were now having to teach their child were able to see firsthand how their child is going with their learning. 
  • A silver lining for me as a teacher was that I was able to work from home in my pjs some days! Only kidding! Although this was definitely a benefit, the serious silver lining for me as a teacher comes in the form of flexibility. Flexibility and permission from school, system and nationwide leaders in learning to be able to teach my students what they need. To be given the trust, as the classroom teacher, to plan and implement lessons that would allow students to grow and learn what they need to in order to move forward on their own learning journey. 
  • A silver lining for our education system is that it took a global pandemic and almost the total shutdown of our school system for policy and educational leaders to have another look at our curriculum. Even though hope is not a strategy, I am hopeful for the day when we see a curriculum, not packed with mandated hours to cover neverending outcomes, but a curriculum focused on developing students’ capabilities to deal with an ever changing world. 

Those are just a few of my silver linings. I wonder what yours are? 

 

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