Last week wrapped up my school’s spring break. And with all the news about COVID-19, school closures, and digital learning, this break was anything but relaxing. Officially, we are only on day 3 of our school closure, but it has been the hardest three days of not-teaching I have ever had.
I am going to speak for myself, but I know this same sentiment applies to all my colleagues and all the teachers and principals and paraprofessionals around the country: we miss you. We miss our students so much right now, and it is killing us to not be at school with you. It does not matter what grade level or subject we teach, we miss you. And, we do not even miss teaching you; we just miss your hellos when you are walking in the hallways, your energy filling our classrooms, and your blank stares when we tell dumb jokes.
As your teachers try and navigate a new type of education, know that we are trying our best. Some of your teachers are teaching themselves technology they have never used before. Some of your teachers are having their first online staff meeting. Some of your teachers are setting up a GoogleClassroom for the first time. Know that we cannot recreate our classrooms on the internet (if someone could, we would all be out of jobs), but we are trying our very best—for you!
We also know this is new for you too. We know some of our students don’t have internet. We know that some of our students are now in charge of babysitting while their parents work from home. We know that some of our students are too anxious to be doing schoolwork right now. But we hope that you all know will miss you and we are still there for you if you need help. Reach out to your teachers or counselors if you need resources or have questions or just want to say hello. Reach out to your classmates who are bored out of their minds at home too.
In the next few weeks, it may feel like we are emailing you too much, or not enough. We might give you too much work or not enough to do. You may see one of our silly jokes attached to an article we think you will enjoy reading. You might also see us struggling to get technology to do anything we want it to.
Remember all this when we finally get back into our school, back into our classrooms, back to our routine. Until then we are making a temporary new normal—because, in case you need to be reminded, things will eventually get back to normal. We don’t know how long that will take, but until then, we really, really miss you.
Rachel Perugini
I am originally from Pennsylvania where I earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Shippensburg University. In 2012, I moved to Arizona to teach on the Navajo Reservation; I liked the state so much I decided to stay. I taught language arts, reading, and journalism for three years at Many Farms High School. During that time, I earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction for Reading. In 2015, I moved to Flagstaff where I currently teach 10th and 11th grade English. I have been an avid reader all my life, so I love that my job gives me that chance to read amazing books with my students all day long.
Comments 2
Hello Rachel,
Thanks for sharing this piece.
We are one week behind you with spring break and I can’t help but think about what Monday will feel like. You bring up the very fact that we do miss our kids and families. This is happening to us and is so new for everyone. We couldn’t have predicted what we know today, two weeks ago. Hang in there and do the best you can!
I really enjoyed this. What a great open letter to kids. The weight of the words are even stronger today than when it was initially written. I miss my students so much! Seeing their little faces on Zoom just isn’t the same. I miss all of our old normals.