It's easy to be me

 So the 2021 school year is nearly officially over for me. What an overwhelmingly mind blowing journey these past couple years have been to those of us who teach, uh? Having to adapt to the new ‘normal’ overnight was not for amateurs. While most people were sharing how many glasses of wine they were drinking during early days of quarantine we were struggling to understand what we should be doing to entertain our students while holding their attention and making sure the content they signed for was being delivered. Properly.

Once we were finally back to our once-upon-a-time safe environment, the classroom, not only did we have to fight our fear of leaving the safety of our homes in an ongoing pandemic without even being vaccinated, but we also had to readapt once again. I admire doctors and nurses who wear masks all day, but do they need to be heard by a group of students, sitting miles away due to the social distance protocols, in a room that is now the size of my apartment? It took me a while to actually find the ones who were speaking, as I couldn’t read their lips. Or even understand what they were speaking, because their masks were nearly soundproof. But nothing, nothing, nothing can compare to the feeling of being back to school after a year and a half completely isolated, looking at black squares on the screen of my computer and wondering what those students looked like. 

Regardless of all the challenges - that students have no idea we had faced because we made sure everything was OK, so that it would be OK for them as well - the amount of memories made is obscene. I had this married couple sharing that they were expecting their first baby. I witnessed two students falling in love with each other. I had to keep myself from crying when a student couldn’t leave the room because she said she would miss me the minute the semester was over. Not to mention students coming to class celebrating each dose of their vaccines being taken. Just to name a few. Saying I am thankful doesn’t even begin to cover it. My heart is just so full and I cannot wait to be back next year. While I was cleaning my phone to make room for Summer memories, I found so many things that made me laugh and smile...

Now I'm ready to my days of rest. While most people question why teachers have such long breaks, I’ll be enjoying my vacation and questioning (as a teacher), their ability to understand texts and tell them that they should work on their reading skills. Happy Summer break to my fellow heroes!