Today I had the chance to go to my classroom and get any materials might need to deliver online instruction. I didn’t know what to grab….so I got brought home a lot of books. While I was there my room was so oddly silent (even though I was with my student teacher and grade level partners and we had to talk loudly because we were all 6 feet apart).
No backpacks spilling out of cubbies
No paper footballs flying through the air
No chapter books clutched in tiny hands
No signs of life seen anywhere.
The classroom oddly silent
No pencils scribbling ‘cross the page
No giggling, noisy chatter
No high fives or hugs in this quarantine age
We’re lucky to be healthy
To have homes; to be okay.
But that doesn’t mean I miss them less
I miss them more each passing day.
I long to read, to play, to write
To gather in one place.
I even long to yell “Stop talking!”
If it means I’d see each face.
We’ll meet online in Flips and Zooms
We’ll do our distance learning
But I await the day we can go back
For our normal routine I’m yearning.
What a beautiful, albeit quiet classroom. We just found out today that our schools will be closed for the rest of the year. Nobody knows how to handle these unprecedented times. This line says it all “I even long to yell “Stop talking!”
If it means I’d see each face.”
Wishing you well as you navigate remote teaching.
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We are closed until at least April 13…I fear it may be even longer.
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Well done. You evoke life frozen in time. The sounds of silence can be soothing or haunting. We all miss the noise, don’t we?
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I love your reflection and poetry was the perfect structure. The black and white photo at the end layered on mood – silence is not always golden. Hang in there.
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I would have been able to go into my classroom for some things tomorrow, but I would have needed to be on “the” list. I missed the deadline to be on “the” list. I love your poem, and because I know we both teach 2nd grade, I feel it deeply.
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THis is a beautiful ode to your classroom and students. I am sure they miss you equally. Maybe it’s an opportunity to share and give them a similar challenge or prompt.
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