Back 2 School Tomorrow, Back 2 Normal…?

Source:Pixabay CC0 Public Domain

These past two days most of the teachers at my school have been at the school trying to prepare for the return of our students tomorrow. We spent yesterday morning in a staff meeting. Our Principal brought us up to speed on what the District is doing for students whose families were displaced by Hurricane Matthew.

The two major factors we will have to deal with when we reopen for students tomorrow are: (1) over 30 roads in the county remain closed due to storm damage, and (2) many of our students are staying either in the one shelter still open in the county or with family and friends outside their normal school zone.

Both factors will affect bus travel the most. The district transportation office has been working with the DOT to come up with safe bus routes that will allow all students who normally ride a bus to get a ride. Also, to the extent possible, the district has been identifying where, within the county, the displaced students have found shelter. If we know where they are, a bus will be sent to pick them up.

I spent these two workdays catching up on grading papers left over from before the storm, rearranging the desks in my room, and, using data gathered about the students in the weeks I’ve been teaching them, assigned seats based on what I think will make the best partnerships. I expect to hear a lot of fuss from the students because they won’t be sitting where they want. I’m also sure I’ll hear all kinds of requests to please let them move.

Students these days, as I’m sure students throughout history have, forget they are in class to learn, not to socialize with their friends. Some of them will receive an awakening when I hand them their stack of missing assignments. Preparing those packets was another big part of what I worked on over the last two days. A few students should be highly motivated to complete the missing work when they see their grades.

Tomorrow we open on a two-hour delay. This is primarily to be sure it is full daylight when the buses make their morning run. None of us are expecting to get much real teaching done tomorrow. I’ve planned a review activity for today and tomorrow to bring the students back up to speed on what we’ve done since the school year started. With the interruption of the school year by the storm, I think reviewing what we’ve already done is a good way to bring the students back into the education mindset.

As always, I remain,

The Exhausted Educator