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