Last Friday I posted this on my social media:
This week I:
-prepped asynchronous work for students in Kindergarten to Grade 5
-posted asynchronous work for students in Grades 1-5, emailed their grown-ups, and posted reminders of work
-read to an online Grade 1/2 class
-read to an in-school Kindergarten class
-read to an online Grade 2 class
-planned and designed inquiry activities related to our Blue Spruce program
-taught online Kindergarten
-supported online Grade 3
-got pulled from online Grade 3 to cover an in-person Grade 1 class
-taught online Kindergarten (again)
-curated our weekly LLC newsletter
-curated next week’s BHM “Jam or Not A Jam”
-pulled books connected to educator’s requests for in class inquiries
… and probably a lot of stuff I forgot.
Each week in #Onted is a full month. No joke.
It's a list of all the things I could remember doing at school between Monday and Friday. It's a lot. And I am just one educator in one building. We routinely have at least 5 unfilled jobs on any given day and some days it's been as high at 11 (maybe more!) unfilled jobs that need to be covered by library, ISSP, ESL or homeroom educators missing their planning times. It's an all hands on deck situation in Ontario schools right now. People are frazzled, burnout and fractured from trying to remember what they need to do while attempting to cover a different role. The system is continuing to eat us alive.
That being said there are still moments when joy is felt and celebrated in our schools. While I dread going into work each day knowing that if the parking lot is empty I may be thrust into a role that I am unprepared for or even pulled partway through the day, partway through a task. My ability to focus and see a task through to completion is almost non-existent at this point.
But every morning at 8:15 I head out to the parking lot for morning duty. For three years I was on crosswalk duty and then last year I was shifted to Kiss n' Ride and now I am stationed at the back of the parking lot.
I absolutely LOVE being outside in the morning for duty. For the last 5 years I have been the first person many families see each morning when they arrive at school. I don't know how many of you know this... but I am pretty cheerful person in the morning. I look forward to greeting the students and their grown-ups. I like to chat and make small talk. I get to know the students at little better. The students excitedly remind me if it's their library day or share which book they liked the best that we read recently.
One little girl told me this week that she loved the book that had a character with hair just like hers. Seriously. I didn't stop smiling all morning.
One of my favourite things about morning duty is getting to know the students and their grown-ups in a different light. We have a family whose child is in Kindergarten and every day since September Mom and Dad would walk the little one into school. Mom was expecting a new baby and when we returned after the shut down in January only Dad was walking. I got to learn about the new baby, the baby's name and hear all sorts of updates. Last week, I got to meet Grandma and Grandpa as they walked the little one to school.
The families and I joke about the traffic backups and headaches in the parking (seriously, some parents need to slow down and be patient). We discuss the weather. Did we know it was going to be this cold? Does it look like we are going to get more snow? People ask for book recommendations to read with their children. Newcomers share with me their stories about why they moved to Canada and what they hope for their grandchildren attending our school.
It's almost always 15 minutes of joy (minus the cars who want to park in the tow away zone no matter how many times I've asked them not to...).
It's 15 minutes of interacting with students. With people. With families. With parents and caregivers. With grandmas and grandpas. With little ones too small to come to school yet.
It's the only part of my day that remains the same from the "before time".
It's my little pocket of joy.
