Uncharted Territory
I've never seen a time like this. My mother once told me she got scarlet fever as a child and was quarantined. Back then they weren't as advanced as we are. They, you know, actually tested and diagnosed you, even if you didn't happen to be Tom Hanks.
Now I go to work, what's left of it, and everyone is wearing masks and gloves. I understand, of course, the urge to protect yourself. Still, last week we were in the building with 4,999 other people, right up until Friday. We weren't wearing masks or gloves then, or the day before that, or the day before that. We haven't got a diagnosed case in our school. This notwithstanding, I only know of one person who's been tested. I cannot imagine that no one is carrying the virus. Far easier, for me, is to imagine everyone has it.
Then there are our jobs, which have changed substantively in the space of a week. I was excited about trying new technology with my classes, excited about seeing my students and perhaps guiding and supporting them through these troubled times. Then, of course, Part 154 popped up, with its demand for a certain number of minutes. Evidently the geniuses in Albany could not waive that for anything so simple as a deadly pandemic, even if the classes they mandate don't remotely meet the needs of ELLs. It appears to me, at least, that to meet the CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Uncharted Territory