Yesterday an announcement was made that we had 48 hours to prepare for nationwide self-isolation - a Level 4 Quarantine self-isolation. Students were sent home. Teachers were told to come back in the morning to prep resources. Luckily we'd done some of this earlier the week before.
Today was more of a planning and prep day at school. We hunkered down. Got the job done.
And boy, was it a long job. I spent all day literally running to and fro from the photocopier to the DC to my computer in the resource room and then back again. I had some awesome help from my colleagues in the department and colleagues at kura.
I'm glad that I had so many resources I could throw together and hopefully it is coherent enough.
This really is unchartered territory. This self-isolation has never happened in my career as a teacher. In my lifetime either.
I kept thinking today about my last lesson with my Y9Tihi students. I tell them this a lot - but they are honestly the best Y9 class I've ever had. Straight up. I've had some crazy classes over the past ten years but I am so grateful for the students in my Y9 Tihi class this year.
They were so patient, nervous and scared. They wanted the info but also weren't really ready for it either. I asked them to do four things:
1. Read up about Covid-19
2. Write me emails
3. Write a daily diary of what it is like being in self-isolation
4. Try not to panic. Be safe. Be kind to each other.
To keep the mood calm yesterday, I introduced them to The Game of Awesome. If it hadn't have been such a serious need to keep them calm, I would have enjoyed seeing them working together so well and creating cool stories so easily. I still enjoyed it. But there was still a definite need to keep calm in that moment.
Yesterday a lot of them asked for LOTS of school work. Like weeks of it.
I guess that's why I spent so long making the Junior English Covid-19 Homework booklets. I wanted to make sure the booklets were accessible for all students and also challenging too.
I'm mindful that some of the resources there are what they have already covered. Some they haven't. Hopefully it all helps.
It was really important to me that my students and those in English classes at OC would have the opportunity to grow at home, with their whanau. To have them share their learning and READ, WRITE and CREATE together.
I'm hoping the students will come tomorrow and collect packs for home. I'm also hoping that everyone will be safe.
Proper self-isolation begins tomorrow night at 11.59pm - Wednesday night.
This means we won't be allowed out of the house.
My sister works at Eastpac. She is deemed an essential worker. It makes me happy she still has a job but also scared. I worry that she will bring the virus home or that she will get sick herself. What will that mean for us in our house?
I worry about whether our animals can get the virus or whether people not in self-isolation walking past our house will touch our dogs and the dogs bring it inside.
Like I said, this is unchartered territory.
I'm truly grateful for the awesome leadership and quick response from our Senior Leadership Team at school. Also grateful that we had time to prep work for students as we moved to Alert Level 4.
As I asked my Tihi kids to keep a diary about their experiences - I'll write here too. Hopefully they get the chance to read these and respond ๐๐ฝ
