Chai And A Chat #84 #ChaiAndAChat #CoronaDiaries Week 8

Eight darn weeks of Lockdown…

Got your drink?

  • This week I wasn’t on the school rota, meaning no reason to go out of the house, other than grocery shopping. But there is always work. to do, so along with helping my Team Teach to set up a class blog, we added posts so our class and parents could get in touch, and get additional support for tasks. Some more online learning and keeping track of what the childen have been doing, along with planning for the next time I am in, kept me busy.
  • And we had our first team Zoom meeting which was cool. I am a people person, and I crave conversation. Online chats are fine, but being able to see and speak to others was great. I am sure there will be more to come!
  • Obviously the big thing that was on my mind, and the minds of plenty of other educators, was the possible reopening of schools. I know, as the lower level of teacher, we don’t have full access to all that is being discussed, and we will be presented with a plan of action from our Academy Trust, and Senior Leadership Team, but what I an hugely aware of, is the amount of conflicting information that is being sent to the above individiuals, making the decisions even harder. One of my neighbours is a head teacher and we have had a brief over the road conversation about the stress she is feeling with everything. The ‘will we/won’t we?’ cloud has been hanging over my head all week.
  • Adding to my own personal stress and worries, I am dreaming about it. One night I woke up and recalled my dream which was set on the first day back, and Hubby Dearest came with me (Goodness knows where my own kids were!) to an old building which is not our school. I had been given no plans or idea as to what we were doing, and was presented with a group of five children, some from my actual class, some not. Then papers were thrust in my hand with some resources, but I kept on losing the kids, who were sneaking into different rooms. It was all very odd, and I don’t doubt that the unsurity I feel towards everything, is what played through the dream.
  • One thing I have been doing, when school work is complete, is cooking and I managed to make Hubby Dearest his favourite Shahi Paneer again, this time to perfection! Then I tried to make pakoras, or bhajis, which are little gram flour fritters with onion, potato and spinach, and spices, deep fried. They actually tasted pretty good!
  • I read plenty, new books, older books that had been on my tbr pile for a long while, and arcs too… in fact, I read so much that I managed to hit my annual Goodreads Challenge target already, in May!
  • Other than that, I have managed to get a few more words down, partially WIP related, some for the Story A Day In May challenge. And I got results back for my first two calligraphy course modules, passed with 100%!

The rest of the week, has been the same as the rest, daily waking up, working, eating, reading, writing, feeding others, cleaning, video calling family… And repeat…

This week, I am in school with the Keyworker kids on Monday, with a different partner teacher, so that should be fun, then we will be getting details of the tentative plans for the future… waiting with baited breathe. Then, as of Friday, it is officially the end of term, though we still need to be open for the keyworker children. At least that means the kids don’t need dragging, kicking and screaming to their computers in the morning, to log into their Google Classrooms. What the rest of the week holds, I have no idea…

What have you been up to?

Stay safe, my dear friends!

💜

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 272 – Change

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“The only way to make sense of change, is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”

Alan Watts

Thanks, Spidey, for another corker.

Change.

It’s all around us, right now.

Eight weeks ago, we were all faced with a rather sudden change. Lockdown.

That was a tough cookie to swallow, but we had to do it for our safety, as well as the wellbeing of loved ones, friends and the wider community.

Then we all got comfortable.

Used to stepping two metres away from people, no hugs or handshakes, unless in your household. Used to queueing to get into a grocery store. Used to phone consultations with your health providors. Used to working from home. Used to the same faces around you, 24/7. Used to (for some, at least) home schooling.

And now we are faced with the next change. People tentatively going back to work. We’ve already become comfortable with our new normal. Easing back into the old one is the only way forward, given the risk of a second spike of infections.

If things work as the government want, then stage two will be of the easing, and that includes going back to schools for some pupils. I know I’ve already voiced my concerns about the government already giving a date to the wider public.

They said, at the earliest, June 1st.

The thing is that date is now fixed in everyone’s head. That it will happen then for definite. Some are worried it’s too soon. Some can’t wait to get their kids back to school. Most are just not sure.

But I have to keep reminding myself it is still a possible date of return. And when we do, the way we operate will be hugely different to normal school. I just don’t exactly know in what way it will be different. Smaller classes, less year groups in. That I know. It’s just how it will all pan out.

So, right now, all I can do, and all we can do, is wait, and try and embrace the changes, adhering to what we are advised, and hoping for the best.

But rest assured, I haven’t been sitting on my arse all this time, fully paid, doing nothing, as a certain evil cretin called Katie Hopkins has suggested all teachers are, on Twitter. (I’m not giving her the pleasure of sharing her tweet on my blog, but if you want to check it out, she had it pinned to her profile – stupit, stupid woman. Seething.)

I have been in with children some days, and at home, planning work, setting work, marking work, looking at plans for the future, and doing courses to make my teaching better in the long run. As well as looking after my own family too.

I had to mention that because it came to my attention that there are many folk who seem to think that is the situation for all teachers at the moment. Doing nothing, and being lazy, and now also selfish if anyone has said they don’t feel it’s the right time to go back…

So… tell me, if you are a parent, how are you feeling about schools opening?

Have a peaceful Sunday Peeps  And enjoy your week! ❤ 

#SoCS May 16/2020 – Want

Linds’s #SoCS prompt today:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “want.” Make the word “want” the first, second, or third word of your post. Have fun!

What I want (there you go, third word!) is to know what is going on.

Actually, it is probably what everyone wants to know.

Into week eight of Lockdown, and though the government are trying to show that the end may be in sight, we, as a people, are left with a huge dose of doubt.

I’m sitting here, not really knowing what is going to happen, come this magic date of June 1st, when apparently the government thinks it will be safe to bring children back to certain classes in school.

So safe that we have to split the class.

Possibly split it again.

And not talk to the majority of my own babies who will be trying to come in.

No hugs.

No consolation hugs for the little 4 and 5 year olds who will probably be quite distressed to come back in to aa very different school scenario.

And quite possibly, not even with the teacher they are used to having.

Hell, yeah, I want to know what is going on.

Okay, enough of that virus talk, something else I want, is for my creativity to come back, properly, and my energy, and I want the phantom pains to disappear too!

Not asking for too much, am I?

May 14: Flash Fiction Challenge – Life Crossing

Charli’s Carrot Ranch Prompt this week:

May 14, 2020, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that answers the question, “What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you are in absolute danger?” Go where the prompt leads!

Life Crossing

I had only just pushed the wheels of the buggy onto the road, after checking to see all was clear, yet the roar of the engine was close. Either I had missed seeing this approaching car, or the driver wasn’t driving at the designated speed limit.

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to reach the other side, I grabbed the buggy handles and jerked it back, as fast as I could.

Heart beating as if it would break out of my ribcage, I checked inside.

Bless him, he was still asleep. But I knew our lives had flashed before me.

Dance #writephoto (and a socs rant…)

Sue’s #WritePhoto prompt this week:

Partners bowing down
While facing one another
Ready to perform
Their first dance, after a break
But, can they keep their distance?

Ritu 2020

Today’s poem is less about dancing and more about my thoughts as we are preparing for maybe going back into school come June 1st.

I am a Reception teacher, the 4-5 year olds, and they, along with Year One and Year Six pupils, have been suggested as the first classes to head back to school when the time is right.

My first thoughts?

How on earth can we socially distance thirty 4-5 year olds (x2) in a classroom, and outside at playtime?

Apparently, by halfing the class numbers… and using other teachers to take smaller groups, staggering drop off and pick up times and playtimes and eating lunch in our classrooms.

Will we get PPE?

No, because the govt doesn’t think it’s worth it. (But at least my head has ordered some things, just in case.) Seems that as it is nigh on impossible to socially distance them, what’s the point? Oh, and they are less likely to suffer from COVID-19… Actually they are more likely to be asymptomatic carriers… So they may not suffer… but what about us?

Am I going to bring it back into my home?

This is the scariest part. I can’t see other members of our family, they can’t even meet their own grandparents, but we can mix as a teacher with her class. Then we all go home, and there is the potential of infecting our own loved ones, if someone in that group is carrying the infection asymptomatically.

Do I want to go back?

This is a really tough one. I desperately miss my class, and I am anxious because I know there are many who are going to be falling behind in their learning. But, are we safe? We are trying to keep abreast of learning by using online methods, but these things are not as easy for the younger children. Older kids can access the online learning much easier than the little ones. They need practical, hands on activities to help them learn. So, for my babies education sake, I do want to go back, but I am not wholly convinced yet, that it is right.

Quite honestly, I feel like a guinea pig. Are the government sending us back first, to see what happens? If a few extra children and teaching staff fall ill and/or die, will that be the cue for them to decide to close again?

I’m not sure I want to be a guinea pig…

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