Educating in the Era of COVID-19: Day 6

Week 1 is in the books. Now, we’re into our second week of online education. It feels like a routine is forming. I post lessons on Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday. I meet with my advisees through Google Meet on Tuesdays and my students, class-by-class, on Wednesdays. Our Philosophy Club gathers the same way on Monday and Thursday. Tuesday and Thursday will be my major lesson planning days. You get the idea.

Now, my employer hasn’t said anything official about canceling brick-and-mortar classes through April but federal social distancing guidelines are set to April 30th it begins to feel like this school year will be digital until the end. Again, this hasn’t been made official but mentally I’m preparing for this probability. Our graduation would be the 21st of May meaning even if life goes back to ‘normal’ it will be with only a few weeks remaining. How much of that time will be needed to reintegrate students back into their day-to-day schedules? How much of it will be taken by end-of-year events? Even if we do return in May we’re returning just to wrap up the year.

I wonder what seniors are thinking? This was when it was time for dances, and ceremonies, and announcing college choices, and so much more. Now, that may be taken from them. It’s sad to watch but we must stay safe until this pandemic passes. Really, we don’t have a choice though. If we push people back to the old normal we may postpone our reality return until months down the lines. In fact, there may not be an old normal to which we can return. So, our goal is to make sure the new normal includes things like college choices and graduation ceremonies. We lose this year so that this new normal can emerge faster.