I Spy

I spy...

A St. Patrick's Day scarf

You know, for someone whose favorite color is green, I actually do not have that many green clothing options. But when you were an elementary teacher back in the day, you collect all sorts of fun scarves and other accessories.

A container of Clorox disinfecting wipes

I hate the smell of bleach. HATE it! But alas, when you're warned by the CDC, WHO, and NHS (and your school) to disinfect all surfaces, you do it. It's worth it, y'all. I don't want to risk any of my sweet babies catching this horrible disease. So it's been worth it to wipe down the desks and tables, door handles, fidgets/toys, every day, multiple times a day. 100% worth it.

A Dr. Pepper 

I'm not a coffee drinker. But thanks to a late night last night and an internal alarm clock that wouldn't let me sleep late today, even though I didn't have to be at work 'til 9:00... I needed some caffeine. Fun fact - I rarely ever drank a Dr. Pepper before moving to Senegal 10.5 years ago. But now... I love it!

A mess in the back

Y'all, I have some work to do over the Break. I'm actually looking forward to finally having time to go through my cabinets, re-organize everything, and start prepping for the next school year, when I'll need a bit more space. I was planning to do that over Spring Break anyway. So knowing that I might even get a bit of extra time to do it might be a nice thing :) 

A stack of Teacher's Editions of textbooks

After our staff meeting this morning, I'll be spending the rest of the day working on big unit plans for the 6 other subjects I teach (not counting the 5 I completed/printed yesterday for one student). Our plan is to go back to school on April 6, which is when our Spring Break ends anyway. But, in the event we have to stay closed, we'll shift into e-learning (online schooling) at that point. So, we're using this work week to our advantage and planning ahead.

6 stacks of student textbooks, library books, and other materials - Along with a letter to them, wishing them a wonderful Spring Break, and giving them my contact info in case they need to chat at some point

Our students are being allowed on campus today to retrieve textbooks, clean out lockers, etc. And since some of my crew keeps their books in my room, I wanted to have everything ready for them. As for the note... My teacher heart is hurting at the thought of a potentially extended break from teaching them. Some of my crew don't fully grasp what's going on. So they're experiencing confusion and sadness over not being at school, in their normal routine. Lots of kids feel this. But kids with special needs sometimes do even more because of that confusion. So I'm trying to do whatever I can to help them through this time. And if that means taking a bit of time out my day to chat on the phone or over Skype, then it's 100% worth it :)

A "sad" face

It's hard. I'm not going to lie. The fear of the unknown can be a scary thing sometimes. I'm a few thousand miles and an ocean away from my family. I worry about their health in this. I worry about family and friends and former students whose own schools have been cancelled, causing them to miss important events, maybe even graduations. I worry about my students, some with definitely weakened immune systems. I worry about school and potentially teaching my kids online, when they really really need the one-on-one, face-to-face interactions with a teacher to truly understand concepts. I worry about being able to fully meet their needs in a non-traditional teaching format. I worry about them feeling sad or confused and not fully understanding what's going on in the world right now. 

A thumbs up

But at the same time... I know this is for the best. As Christians, we are taught to respect those in authority over us. We respect our government leaders, or the government leaders of our host country, in this case. So we close school a bit. I'm happy my students are getting an extra week of Spring Break this week. They need that time to relax and have fun with their family. I'm happy I have this week as a work week. I was planning to do some long range planning over Spring Break. But this week is a blessing because now maybe I won't have to work so much over the Break (if any). I'm happy that there are very few cases of COVID-19 in Senegal. ...far less than in the US. I'm happy that my family is all healthy. I'm happy for technology keeping me connected with my family and my students, too. I'm happy that God is gifting me with some good times of physical AND spiritual rest. 

And above all, I'm happy that I know who is in control.