The New Education: Finding ways to smile in hard times–Diary of a Teacher During the Coronavirus Crisis, Entry #4
What a week.
The mounting COVID-19 crisis is wreaking havoc around the world. As of this writing there are about 726,187 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world and the U.S. has the highest number at 140,458–including my over 60-year-old cousin in New Orleans who I worry deeply about. Hospitals around the world are being filled beyond capacity and in places like New York City many healthcare workers don’t have enough Personal Protective Equipment to guard themselves against the disease. U.S. unemployment claims rose by 3 million this week and economy is in free fall. Many millions of students are home due to mass school closures, along with millions of their parents who are sheltering in place and/or lost their jobs.
As a teacher who is homebound due to the mass school closures, my life has changed dramatically. As readers of my ongoing diary of these times know, I am exploring in these writings what it means to turn to educating my own two elementary school kids at home—like so many millions around the country and the world.
I have been working to find ways to continue to educate my kids without overburdening them with trying to keep them on track with their regular schooling. The truth is our whole society and education system is on an entirely different track now—no, better put, we are off the rails all together. So instead CONTINUE READING: