The more things change, the more they stay the same....

I have a beautifully framed print of Winslow Homer's " The Country School" (1871) hanging on my dining room wall.  It was a college graduation gift from my parents when I was a "ink still wet on the diploma" first year teacher. That print has followed me around the country on our various moves and has served as a reminder that people have been doing this teaching thing for a while with far fewer resources than most teachers have today.

The original hangs in the St. Louis Art Museum.  The link to the original is much better than the amateur picture I attempted with my phone of the print.

https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/36767/

(And yes, the St. Louis Art Museum's acronym does spell: slam. I found that very amusing for some strange reason.)

The written description of the piece points out that the boys and girls are sitting on separate sides of the room, supplies are scattered on a table, the attention of some of the students has wandered, and there is, apparently, crying in baseball school.

If you were to look closer, you would also notice that students were sharing books. Shoes were optional. Clothes were tattered. The benches are crooked, the floor needs to be swept, and I'm pretty sure the table in the back right corner has the remnants of some drawing or botany lesson that still needs to be finished and put away.  And if you look very closely at the teacher, you notice that she is plainly dressed, she doesn't have her attention on all the students at once, and her hair is slightly mussed, as if she hasn't had time to herself to fix it after coming in from monitoring lunch and recess. Also, I'm still trying to figure out if the containers on the back table are very large coffee pots, or just a lunch pail and pitcher of water.  I hope, for her sake, its coffee...

From what we know about One Room Schools in the 1800s, she is probably single. Teaching may not have been her first choice of career, but it was what she was allowed to do at the time. Her students would have needed lessons for all subjects, but also for multiple grades. Her training, when compared to today's requirements, was woefully inadequate. Her salary was a pittance, and she may have had to board with the family of some of her students, meaning she never had down time.  Her ability to manage the school and her behavior in public was under constant scrutiny by the townspeople and school board. She still had to do laundry, sewing, and other chores when she was done with school.

But here is what she did have: She had the opportunity to build close relationships with her students and their families. Find out what the kids dreams were. Encourage them to try some thing new or do something they didn't think they could. She could take the time to dive into that drawing or botany lesson. She may have even played an inning of baseball with the children during recess. Whether she taught for just a one term, or made it her life-long vocation, she was going to have an impact on the lives of those children spending the day in that one room school with her.

We have all been asked to be that teacher for the next few months. Professionals and parents together. We didn't all choose distance learning, but it is what we have been asked to do. Our training and our workspace and our resources may seem woefully inadequate. Parents may have kids in multiple grades, studying multiple subjects. The townspeople are going to be watching to see how well we all do, on all sides of the teacher's desk. We have no shortage of other chores on our plate. Our down time doesn't exist. Our students may be inattentive, shoes may be optional, and the floor probably should have been swept three days ago.
There may even be some crying.....

But here is what we do have: The opportunity to build closer relationships with our students and families. Find out what our kids dream about. The chance to dive into that botany or drawing lesson. The opportunity to go outside, muss up our hair, and play an inning or two of baseball with our kids.

The more things change the more they stay the same....

Except now we have Google and Alexa.....and coffee...

'Cause I didn't miss the class on that. :)

For more information on One Room Schools : https://www.countryschoolassociation.org/online-resources--links.html

For more information on Winslow Homer (and to help you plan a trip to Maine ;)

https://www.portlandmuseum.org/homer

What to do when there is no class to miss.....


For all the parents who are now homeschooling, but never intended to, I present:

The Top Five Things to NOT WORRY ABOUT!

5) Access to technology.
 Seriously. Relax.  We somehow managed to educate children in this country without Ipads, internet, Google, Alexa, etc for hundreds of years.  Taking 2-8 weeks off from Google Classroom may actually be a good thing.

4) Not knowing Edu-Speak.
It really doesn't matter if you understand terms like "best practices", "differentiated instruction", or "curriculum integration".  When you are working with your own kids, you already have an idea of what works best for them, and what they need to work on.  Which is what most of those "edu-terms" mean anyway.

3) Not knowing how to "teach" something "correctly".
I'm pretty sure that school districts are already having or will soon have the conversation about state mandated testing scores and assessments coming up this semester.  I'm kind of hoping the whole country follows the example Texas is setting and that these tests will be cancelled.
If you do struggle with a certain concept on assigned work, don't be afraid to let your kids see you tackle a math problem or answer an essay question that is difficult. Your child may even be able to explain it to YOU, thus strengthening their academic confidence.

2)Having to spend 8 hours a day on school work.
NO ONE SPENDS THIS LONG ON ACADEMICS!!!!
At least half of every school day in an elementary school is consumed with managing groups and behavior.  A typical day may look something like this:
8:25 students BEGIN arriving
8:45 students are in class, ready for announcements, attendance, and morning routine
9:00 students prepare for their first academic block
9:05-10:30 Instructional block for math/literacy.  This includes a 15 min group lesson and 45-50 minutes of students working in small groups in centers to practice the new skill and review old skills.  After the 15 minute larger group lesson, the classroom teacher may get 15 more minutes per small group to do more direct instruction.  For most of this period, students are reviewing and learning without a teacher directly involved in their group.
10:35-11:ish.  Students work on a unit for science, social studies or writing....not the same subject every day.
11:ish-12:ish lunch and recess
12:30:-1:15 ish  Writing/Social Studies/Science or Special (Art, Music, Library, PE etc)
1:15-2:30 Second academic block.  Math or Literacy, depending on what was already covered in the morning block. Same situation....teacher does a large group lesson, then checks in with smaller groups as they work on review/practice.
2:30 ish-2:45 Pack up and get ready for dismissal and announcements.
2:45-3:10 Bus Dismissal and Parent Pick-Up.

Out of that whole day, a student may be focusing on academics for a total of 4 hours, and only part of that would include direct, one-on-one feedback from a teacher.
Considering the fact that you won't have to manage 20 other students in addition to your own children, being done with "school" by lunch will probably happen quite often.

1) Ruining your child's academic future.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Even if you can't help with the grammar, math or science that your child has to work on, please remember this:  One of the best indicators of a child's success in school is parental involvement.  Just the fact that you may worry about this shows that you care about their education.  If you don't know something, learn it together. If you aren't sure about something, let your kids see you ask for help from someone else. Read together out loud or even just spend 20 minutes together reading your own books. These are the habits of life-long learners, and they are BEST modeled at home.

Don't worry.
You got this.

Your kids may trace their future success at NASA to the time they spent with you at the kitchen table practicing their multiplication facts....

If you don't send them to the moon sooner ;)

'Cause I didn't miss the class on needing some adult "recess time" either. :)

If you give an educator a February Break

With many apologies to Laura Numeroff.....


If you give an educator a February Break,

She will want to spend some time in the craft room working on a  quilt project....

When she goes into the craft room, she will see the piles of papers sitting in the corner that need to be sorted and added to the tax paperwork pile.

As she spends the day sorting the paper pile, she will be reminded of the fact that she needs to find her W-2 so she can update her license so it gets a fancy gold star.

While spending the second day of break gathering all 276 forms and proof of identity papers required by the BMV, she is reminded that she will have to drive to town to finalize this transaction. There are several things in the house that need to be purged and brought to the thrift store. She shouldn't waste the gas to make two trips civilization this week, so she spends day three sorting and organizing closets and corners to gather up a full load of donations.

While de-cluttering the bathroom closet she sees her reflection in the mirror and is reminded that the BMV will probably take a photo, and she hasn't trimmed her bangs in a while. After finishing the closet and trimming her bangs she will also Clorox-wipe the bathroom sink, faucet, mirror and backsplash.

Finally, on day four, she will drive the car loaded with donations, bottle returns, snack, drink, book, and all 276 forms and proof of identity papers to the BMV to get the fancy gold star on her license.
She will spend day four completing transactions, running errands and finding a few "new-to-her" school-appropriate articles to add to her wardrobe. She may also sneak in a quick trip to the beach, since its February and she won't have to share the ocean with tourists.
She will return home to add the clothes to the laundry pile, and start a load of laundry.

On day five, she will remember that she left the laundry in the washer and head back to the basement to switch the load over. On her way through the living room, she will spy the pile of 276 forms and proof of identity papers that she left on the book case and realize they should go back in the safe in the craft room.

Upon entering the craft room, she will realize that the quilt is still sitting on the cutting table waiting to be finished.

Sighing, she looks at the calendar to see how long it is until April vacation when she has another
week off.....
'Cause it looks like she missed the class on project management....