COVID-19

I was sick for at least two weeks. Fever, cough, head and body aches, but a negative flu test. A full three weeks later, and I still have the occasional cough. My son is one week behind me, having spent time with me hours before I presented with a 102.8 fever. My husband never got sick. But it wasn’t COVID-19. I think.

Life-changing

I only missed one week of work for my illness. As I started my second week with a fever, I was happy that school was out for Spring Break, and I would not have to burn up any more sick leave. Midway through Spring Break, my school district adopted the actions of those around it and canceled the next week of school due to this virus, COVID-19. I was still home, still coughing, but being given a THREE week break. And then my adult daughter, expecting our first grandchild in mid-April, was given permission to work remotely until she takes maternity leave. We briefly rejoiced. Briefly.

Four days after being sent home, my daughter received notice from her employer that a COVID positive person had visited her floor in their offices during one of her last days downtown. Her chances of contamination are remote, but she is nervously counting the days at home. And my purpose in life consequently changed. With stores shutting down and online purchases tagged with excessive delivery delays, I drove from store to store trying to secure necessary newborn supplies for my daughter and son-in-law. My daughter is now ten days removed since the possible exposure; no symptoms. I am feeling more calm with each day, but still not completely secure. My grandson will be born in the middle of a global pandemic.

I’m still a teacher?

After three weeks out, I will “return” to work in two days. I have a one hour window Monday morning to gather any necessary resources from my classroom as well as tend to my classroom’s large pet fish (if it is still alive). I have been instructed to socially distance myself from anyone else in the building at the time (we are on an alphabetic schedule), and then head home to set up my remote office. I will begin supporting my students’ online instruction from home starting Tuesday.

I am not worried about this new adventure. I feel oddly prepared and very pleased that I began my master’s program in Learning Technologies three semesters ago. My district is choosing curriculum to be implemented uniformly across-the-board, so I will be serving only as a facilitator. I’ll miss the opportunity to design lessons, but I’m welcoming the temporary break given everything else that is going on.

I’m still a student?

My life has changed. And as others around me are finding their lives turning upside-down, I am actually coming back to enough normalcy to restart my classwork in my master’s program. My initial design project (safety training for student laboratory assistants) was built around an audience that no longer exists this school year. Fortunately, my flexible and understanding professor is allowing me to modify the project so that I may still learn in its creation. My second design project is even more elusive at this time, but I am getting ideas. I just need to adapt myself to a new world.

Seeing the future…

Back in June when I first started coursework in this degree program, I remember provocatively stating at a teacher in-service that I believed all education would be going online. The classroom teachers around me balked. Surely students will need to gather for social reasons. Surely brick and mortar schools will continue to be a necessity. But I said, no, I believe that online education is the future. At the time, I was thinking the drive to online would be necessitated by financial reasons and convenience. Plus, I wanted to justify why I had chosen THIS master’s program instead of the Educational Leadership programs more traditionally associated with my K-12 work background. I never thought my proclamation would become reality so soon.

In two days.