The one thing you must expect…
There are thousands of things that you could expect when starting a new school year. From all new students to an all-new admin team. The one thing that you must expect is…. the unexpected. If COVID-19 taught us anything, we have learned that we must be ready for the unexpected. The question is, how do you prepare for the unexpected?
There is no sure way to be ready for the unexpected, but it is important to have backup plans in place that you can easily implement when, or if, the time comes. During the summer months, the possibility of a second shutdown this fall was a hot topic. With all the buzz swirling around, I took a few professional development courses that would prepare me to teach 100% online if I needed to.
Be Prepared
I’d spent hours upon hours converting my current classroom resources into digital formats—compatible with Google Classroom, a platform I had been using for several years. Our school board had been meeting frequently since the mandated shutdown. It was about 2 weeks before the teachers were scheduled to return to the classrooms when I found out that the district had decided not to provide technical support for Google Classroom, and that they would only provide support for teachers and students using Microsoft Teams. Talk about the unexpected!
I had some experience with OneNote, but absolutely no experience with Teams. So, there I was, ready to start the school year using a platform that would not be tech-supported by the district. With no time to process, I quickly jumped into class at one of my favorite universities, “The YU”—YouTube University. I knew there would be training sessions for us, but I wanted to prepare as much as I could before the district provided Microsoft Teams training.
Expect the Unexpected
As previously mentioned, there is no one-for-sure way to be prepared for every curve this school year will throw our way. Expect that things will go wrong. Expect that things will go right. Expect that things will change at the drop of a hat. Expect that you will laugh. Expect that you will cry. Expect that you will grow weary. Expect to experience teacher burnout. Expect that you will need self-care time, now more than ever. Expect that your students will need you. Expect that your family will need you. Expect that your colleagues will need you. Expect that you cannot meet the needs of everyone every day. Expect that you will want to give up. Expect that you will just keep swimming. Expect the unexpected!
