The Last Word
By Jamie Rodriguez, Art Teacher & Langley Parent Last spring, news of the pandemic inundated our world: coverage on every news outlet; the main topic of conversation on every Zoom call; and a shadow cast across every mind. I understood the seriousness of the situation and the need for schools and communities to act immediately to stop the spread, but I never imagined the longevity of the situation. But here we are more than nine months later with a clearer perspective, a stronger community, and a better understanding of what it means to do the hard things.
and a parent, I needed to rely on the guidance and support of others. This included talking with colleagues and getting in sync with my husband while we both tried to work from home while parenting our then 3-year-old and nine-month-old. Jamie with husband, Nick, and their I knew the best way to support two children, Rae and Ellis. our students, my own children included, was going to be to work together and for everyone to have an abundance of patience.
Last March, with only a few days to prepare before Langley’s campus closed, we set off to work on what seemed like an impossible task at the time. Those days and weeks were filled with virtual meetings, educational research, Second, one of the biggest challenges during the spring lesson planning, and for me, a refresher on how to teach was figuring out how to navigate the work/life balance. young children (my own!) from home. Langley’s philosophy Langley’s Leopard Cubs program provides childcare for has always been to put our faculty and staff, and I was students at the center of every The question wasn’t whether or not we could extremely grateful that the decision we make, so as an art do difficult things; it became how we were go- school made it a priority to educator and parent, I spent keep Leopard Cubs open this ing to do them. I was optimistic that whatever hours contemplating what school year. Knowing that my the approaching school year looked like, I, as that would look like in this new own children were going to well as my fellow colleagues, could handle it. norm. I knew if I was feeling be in the best hands allowed anxious, my students and my me to focus my attention own young children must be feeling the same. We had faced on my students and help them navigate a new year that many challenges in the past, but had no experience navigating would definitely be filled with new norms and many una global pandemic, a hardship with no defined end. knowns. But just like with anything, success comes with practice. Within weeks, I felt confident with virtual teaching as I navigated Google Meets, online grids, and a virtual art show. I also saw my students become more comfortable with distance learning. The question wasn’t whether or not we could do difficult things; it became how we were going to do them. I was optimistic that whatever the approaching school year looked like, I, as well as my fellow colleagues, could handle it. During the summer, I reflected on my teaching and parenting capabilities more than I ever had before. Relying on the lessons I learned from the spring, there were several takeaways that would help me for the new school year and the challenges it would pose. First, one of the things I learned early on was that in order to be successful as both a teacher
After a summer of reflection and brainstorming with colleagues and administrators, we dove head first into our hybrid learning model. We were once again faced with a seemingly impossible task. Remembering the lessons learned from the spring guided me through the first few weeks of this new way of teaching, and now that we’re a few months in, I’ve developed a rhythm and new sense of normal. We knew it would not look like anything we had seen before, but we were determined to make it work. Yes, things do look a little different – everyone is masked with well-washed hands, practicing safe social distancing, and learning in a hybrid model – but there have been very few disruptions this year and that is a testament to our entire community. We have done the “hard things” and I’m confident we can keep doing them together going forward.
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