2020 has been the most unusual year I have seen. My district made the decision to stay fully online...at least at the beginning of the year. Hopefully we will move to a hybrid model in November. We have spent tons of hours preparing for school to start and today was the day. I awoke early, got ready, and then started getting texts from teachers...there has been a huge wind storm during the night and today...and many teachers were without power and unsure what to do. At first our principal said to just keep trying each hour and he'd let parents know to check Zoom each hour. But then about 20 minutes before school started, the district cancelled school.
I already knew this first day would be different than any other...but it was even more unusual than I expected. I keep thinking...3 years ago I never thought I would ever see the district have a snow day! We never had in my 19 years of teaching to that point. Now we have had two snow days, closed school/moved online for months due to the pandemic, cancelled school for an earthquake and cancelled the first day of school due to power outages. If I had told myself these stories three or four years ago, I would not have believed they were true!
Also, I met with students and parents last week in preparation to begin this year. I told most of them that there would likely be some technology bumps in the road in the first few weeks...this wasn't quite what I expected. As another teacher pointed out, at least the technology issues weren't my fault.
This morning as it was all happening, I just kept laughing. I figured it was either that or cry.
And I guess my overall feeling should be one of gratitude. We're fine. Our home wasn't damaged. We didn't lose our trees. So many I know were not so fortunate. Teachers from my school sent me these photos of the damage at their homes or in their neighborhoods.
LESSONS LEARNED: In the words of Marjorie Pay Hinckley: "“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”
Expect the unexpected. Especially in 2020.
There are ALWAYS things to be grateful for. Even in the midst of hard.
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