On Friday, March 13, as we were informing our students that there would be no school on Monday so that teachers could plan for “just in case,” I truly believed I would see all of my students back in class on Tuesday, the 17th of March. That belief quickly vanished (and my stomach dropped) when on March 15 Governor Chris Sununu announced that all New Hampshire schools would be closed for the next three weeks.

Monday morning came and the staff at AE/MS arrived at school to try to plan for two-and-a-half weeks of remote learning. We did so with heavy hearts, not only because we already missed our students but because we had also lost one of our staff (Vic Stewart) and wouldn’t have time to properly reflect on that loss. There was scheduling, communication, lesson plans, locker clean outs, and a whole host of other things we had to figure out in a very short period of time. Parents would be arriving as early as noon on Tuesday to drive thru and pick up needed items for students.

By the time we left on Tuesday, we were feeling good about our efforts. Everything was well organized and little had been missed. It gave us all a feeling of pride and accomplishment that we had achieved so much in such a short period of time. As Wednesday morning arrived, we were all ready to receive our students’ questions and assignments in our new virtual school.

I think with all the adrenaline flowing through us, my fellow teachers and I didn’t have time to think about what was really going on in the rest of the country. Of course we knew, it just hadn’t sunk in. This was just a temporary situation and we had one focus, to do what was best for our students.

As our three week closure progressed, it had become apparent that this would be a daunting task. Meeting the varying needs of students face-to-face was a part of teaching that I had become accustomed to doing each and every day, but to do it without actually being in the same space was something I (or my colleagues) had never had to attempt with everyone…all at once…for weeks. Google Meets with students and staff have helped to make connections and made me smile, but my heart was often heavy knowing that three weeks would become seven.

On April 16, thirty-two days after the original temporary school closure announcement, the moment we all knew deep down inside was going to happen had finally arrived. Governor Sununu announced that schools would not reopen for this academic year. It was a hard reality to accept, as the one thing that I had been looking forward to through this entire experience was the day I would be able to teach my students in person back in our classroom. For me, having two-thirds of my students in the eighth grade, it was the reality that I would never have them together in my classroom again. 

I also felt sympathy for the class of 2020 as they all had no choice but to accept the fact that their time had ended at AE/MS without the usual end of year activities. I reflected on the many staff members that are retiring at the end of this year as well. This is certainly not how any of them intended to wrap-up their careers in education.

As I move forward with my online lesson plans, I will try to look at the positives with this unexpected twist in the year. I am able to give each individual student more specialized feedback on their work, I am discovering new resources that I can use in my classroom when we finally get to return, and the bond that is being formed with my fellow teachers as we move through this process together will never go away.