A Letter to My Students From Your Teacher:
Dear Students,
Three weeks ago, our days were filled with anticipation for the upcoming spring break. We were finishing the novel “A Separate Peace,” and imaging what it was like to live at the boarding school where the novel takes place. We attempted the Harkness Method of learning, played Blitzball and held lively classroom discussions. This type of learning feels like it occurred years ago rather than earlier this month. The world has changed since the last time I saw you, but your world has been changing since the first time I met you.
This school year started as one filled with new things for you and will end the same way. When you walked into my classroom in August, you were nervous, scared and unsure of what this next chapter in your life would bring. I watched as you embraced the change, pushed yourself out of your comfort zone, and grew into confident learners. Today was supposed to be our first day back from Spring Break. I imagined starting class with stories from your travels, tales of adventure, and hearing about the memories you made over the last week. Instead, those trips were cancelled as we each stayed inside in an effort to protect ourselves, others, and to help flatten the curve. On Wednesday, we will start a new type of learning from our homes, one that many of you have probably never experienced before.
You might be feeling scared, worried, or anxious about this change and what is happening in our world. I want you to know that it is okay to feel those things. Many people are feeling the same way, myself included. As your teacher, I wish I could tell you when this will all be over, and when it will be safe to return to class. Sadly, this is no ordinary day off of school, and I don’t know when the snow from this storm will finally melt. Whether you finish the semester on your laptop at home, or if we will all once again be back in the second floor classroom we shared, is yet to be determined. What I do know, however, is that you can do this, you can embrace this change, and you can adapt to your new normal. I know you can do these things because I have seen you do them before.
When I look at the novels I brought home last Friday, I think of the exciting activities I had planned to introduce the books to you, the Socratic Seminars that would transition to outside learning on warm spring days, and the final exams where you would show off the knowledge you learned this semester. I am sad when I realize some of these things might not happen, but I am sadder when I think of what might happen if we do not stay in, stay home and stay safe.
I know this change is scary, but if anyone is ready for the challenge it is you. Until we meet again, know that you are capable, you are strong and you are always learners.
Cloverandbelle 