Life in a Treehouse | Maria Brummer

life in a treehouse

MARIA BRUMMER

Wow! 2020-21 was a year like no other, and the administration, faculty, and staff came together in the most creative ways to offer a school year that was as close to “normal” as possible during a pandemic. The administration, faculty, and staff spent endless hours in the summer planning what the school year would look like.They knew that the only way we could allow the students back on campus was to create smaller learning pods, utilizing all of the vertical teachers, and all of the spaces on campus. A full-time PE teacher at St. Andrew’s for 28 years, I was asked to take on a new responsibility: pod facilitator. All new pod facilitators were moved into classrooms with seven to nine students during the day. This was a big undertaking for all of us, but we were up for the challenge! The first month of school we prepared for this move to on-campus learning, and after a month of Zoom learning, we were ready to make the transition to being on campus part-time. It was a greatly anticipated day in late September: students, a little nervous but excited as they stepped out of their cars to see classmates and teachers in person after such a long hiatus. Even though they did not get to mix with other pods, the students quickly embraced (figuratively!) their podmates and shared stories about their experiences since March when they had last seen each other. I was assigned to a 4th grade pod of eight students. My pod’s classroom was clear across campus from the other 4th grade pods, as we were utilizing every space possible to accommodate a total of 34 on-campus pods in the LS. Despite being far away, there was something special about having our own place to call home. We named our classroom “The Treehouse” and began settling into a routine on the second floor of Nazro Hall. Since we were with our pod for the duration of the school day, homeroom teachers spent their evening hours creating their lessons, and pod facilitators spent many early mornings reviewing the lessons before school started. The six of us in the 4th grade also met every Wednesday, and often texted each other throughout the school day to make sure we were all on the same page. I also relied on the students to help me create a daily routine, and to help each other when technical or curricular questions came up, and the students did not disappoint! They jumped at any chance to help another student with schoolwork or iPad issues. They shared with me what previous homeroom teachers did in their classroom to create a learning environment. They were always eager to help, and as a result we rarely had to stop what we were doing. We began building our little pod community. We decorated a pool noodle as our pod mascot, named “Six Foot Sam”. We used him to add some fun when measuring our six-foot distance during lunch and snack. We listened to songs like “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers, and “Positivity” by Stevie Wonder. We had a clock that replaced all the numbers with “now” to represent that we were always living in the moment, not worried about what change might be coming next. And we talked about resilience and referred to the quote by Charles Darwin, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”. As all this was going on, the administration continued to look for ways to get the students back together. In November, my pod transitioned to the 4th grade wing, and in a mere week, my pod had gone from half-day to full-day school, moved from our “treehouse” to the music room, and then finally into Mrs. Hunt’s classroom. We had new protocols to learn in each different part of campus, and I was amazed that students embraced each change, excited to be closer to their fellow classmates.

But the administration was not done yet. They immediately released me to teach PE. Other shifts were also being made across the specials; Spanish, Art, Music, and Drama, which had been done asynchronously over Zoom since August, were all being brought back into the classroom. Changes were happening quickly, but everyone was on board, and students were benefiting greatly from these changes. As for me, since January, I have been teaching 3rd-5th PE in the mornings and have moved into a 1st grade pod in the afternoon. The homeroom teachers, this time in 1st grade, welcomed me and offered help whenever I asked. It was a year of transitions, but what made this school year so successful was the collaboration of everyone on staff - administrators, nurses, faculty, maintenance, added teachers for classroom support and at-home learning students… and of course the students, who came this year not knowing what to expect, but resilient and eager to be a part of our St. Andrew's beloved community.