My teacher heart in Just in Case

I got tired of asking my coworkers about participating in a Google Meet with the kids and I scheduled one. We didn’t have many participate (longer reason for that in the next paragraph). But oh my gosh, it warmed my heart. When I logged on, several had already gotten on and were talking, so excited to see each other. One of the boys started crying and telling me he missed me. Which made one of the girls cry. So we had a little emotional moment and then moved on. It was a nice visit. I promised them we’d do another one in a week. Today I got to see one of my kids. We had a packet pickup day the other day. Her stepdad and mom both work at the prison, and neither could get off to come pick up a packet for her or her step-brother. I met mom today with their packets (and a couple of books for my student, shes a reader). It was pouring rain when we met (it had barely sprinkled before that.) I opened my door and got my umbrella out, but before I could even open it, my student had run out of her car and was hugging me. I told her mom, I knew we weren’t supposed to hug, and she laughed and said she knew couldn’t stop her. She’s such a sweet child, and I loved getting to see her.

I am really concerned about what school is going to look like in the fall. This end of the year has been a joke almost. We’re sending work home (packets) and posting online, but it’s just review, and none is for a grade. I live and teach in a very rural area. In most parts of the parish, there is very little cell phone coverage, the only options for internet are a very few places near to neighboring parish can get cable internet, and some have been able to get satellite based internet , but those aren’t available in 90% of the parish. I live on a 4 lane highway, less than a mile from town, and I have to use my cell phone myfi for internet. It’s ridiculous. So, most of our kids have no way of accessing the online learning resources. The company that has the school network created free hotspots at the schools for parents, but they’d have to sit in the parking lot. So the people who live around the school are eating up the data streaming netflix, but the kids are still not benefiting. I don’t know what learning will look like in the fall if we have to continue distance learning. They don’t learn from packets. Most of our school resources are online. I’m not even sure how to prepare. And the idea of starting a new school year and not getting to meet my kids face to face - to build that connection. I can’t even fathom it.