What I Hope They'll Remember

Most of us have, for better or worse, vivid memories of our middle and high school years.  And, we went to school in precedented times, comparably rather dull compared to what my students are experiencing.  Tomorrow, I return from Christmas break.  Contrary to popular opinion, dropping the ball on the 31st didn't change anything (I promise this is my last slam at New Year's until next year).  I will return tomorrow with my mask in place, walk through the temperature scanner, meet in social distanced department meetings, and plan for more hybrid teaching.  Last school year, it was the final quarter that was upended by COVID, but this year, it influences the entire academic year.  Our students will remember this year, telling their kids and grandkids what it was like to live through the COVID pandemic.  I hope what they remember will be formative of their character.  Here's what I'm hoping for.

I hope students will remember teachers who did not panic.  There's a professional line between being authentic with students and sharing things that are not good for them.  My personal rule is, "A student should not go home worried about me."  When the pandemic hit, teachers felt a variety of things.  Some feared contracting the virus themselves or bringing it home to their families.  Some worried about their students whose home situations were not ideal.  Some were worried about the impact of virtual learning on the education of their students.  We were all sad that we wouldn't be able to connect with our students in the normal ways.  I don't know what every student saw from their teachers, but one of the things I am most proud of at GRACE is that we shared emotion, not panic.  Our students saw us cry, but they saw us wipe those tears, pick up our markers, and keep going.  They saw us put on our masks and do our best  I hope when they are adults who encounter difficult challenges that they will do the same.

I hope students will remember that teachers did everything they could to help them.  A thousand decisions have to be made every day in a normal school year, but I am usually confident in those decisions.  During pandemic teaching, I made a lot of decisions that I had no way of applying my experience to.  I tried to let my students know that whatever the result, I would find a way to make it fair.  Overall, I think we came to a good place, in the best interest of the student, while holding to the integrity of our classes.  Where we stumbled, we admitted it, apologized, and worked together to make it right.  I hope when they are adults who make mistakes that they will do the same.

I hope my students recognize that they can handle more than they think they can.  Stress is not fun, and there have been very stressful days, both in the spring during lockdown and in the fall during hybrid teaching.  I have sometimes sounded heartless to others when I have said things like, "Crying doesn't make you (or me) right."  I'm not.  I don't like to see my kids in tears, but I know that you don't teach grit, resilience, growth mindset, or any other kind of character development if you make decisions based on emotions, yours or theirs.  Chronic stress is unhealthy, but bouts of stress are actually good for you.  You go into a situation believing you cannot do it, then do it, and come out on the otherside realize you are stronger than you had imagined.  I hope when my students are adults, and they encounter times of stress, they will remember that they are strong persevere.

I hope my students will remember to be kind to people in need.  In normal times, we sometimes have the tendency to either look down on people who use government and charitable resources or pity them in a way that depersonalizes them.  We rarely imagine that it could be us at any time.  There were many people who lived perfectly normal lives pre-pandmic, paying their bills each month, carrying a little debt, but never worrying about whether they would be able to afford groceries.  When everything shut down in March, those same people didn't know how they would make it until May.  I was blessed to keep my job, but it was eye-opening to realize that you never know when you may be the one in need.  I hope my students will grow up to be people who give to charity and help their unemployed neighbor and do whatever they can to help.

Most of all, I hope my students will remember the people who stepped up.  The first that come to mind are nurses and doctors who cared for COVID patients.  Despite grave physical risk to themselves, they walked into hospital rooms and cared for patients.  We don't yet know what mental and emotional toll this will have on the medical profession in the long term, but dealing with patients who cannot have their loved ones with them and seeing a relentless amount of death while hearing member of the public refuse to do their part is going to have long term effects.  Grocery store checkers don't get paid much.  It's an entry level job, often done by high school students.  None of them took the job, thinking that it would one day be dangerous, but my grocery store has been open every day of the pandemic.  Add to that list delivery drivers and postal workers, whose service we literally could not have lived without.  The scientific community stepped up.  The development of MRNA vaccines at this pace is just short of miraculous.  These people worked round the clock, under pressure, and did an amazing thing.  Hiccups are happening with distribution, as they are bound to, but even with those stumbles, we are witness scientific history from regular people who stepped up when needed.  I have seen people from every walk of life step up, from textile who sewed masks during the PPE shortages to engineers who figured out how to make ventilators more efficient to people who put stuffed bears in their windows to provide joy for children to the news media who did their jobs while being called vile names to the Chic-Fil-A employee who still tells me it is her pleasure to serve me waffle fries.  I hope my students will remember that they can step up from wherever they are, no matter what kind of job they have.  I hope they will remember that people find creative ways to help and will do the same.

I know they are going to remember some things I wish they didn't.  They'll be able to name the people who didn't step up.  They'll remember the santizer hoarders and the toilet paper shortage.  They'll remember things that weren't fair and how frightened they were.  But, I hope, they'll chose to focus on the memories from which they can learn so this time won't be wasted.