"Naming" emotions

 I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I've been in therapy.

I actually LOVED therapy.

Even though therapy was the hardest freaking thing I've ever freaking done in my whole freaking life... I loved me some therapy.     Or well... the results of it.    

You're probably thinking, "Where is this blog post going?"

In therapy, I learned the SERIOUS importance of NAMING an emotion.   Not just, "I'm angry."   Not "I feel upset because...." but REALLY giving a well thought out name for what you're feeling.

I needed to take time to figure out the many emotions of COVID teaching.   From March 2020 until present day...

While I can name all sorts of emotions and feelings... I can best describe COVID teaching with an analogy/comparison of sort.

COVID hitting felt like my world all around me collapsed.    I lost the sanctity of my classroom.

I felt oh so lost.

Our students felt lost.

We had no idea of what damage had really been done, we had no idea what impact things would have... we were just hanging on as best we could.

I hated virtual learning.    But I made it work.   I never realized how "hands on" I was until Virtual Learning crushed my Constructivist learning ways.     

I made it work because I had no choice.   It also meant I began teaching LATE at night and putting myself on the sleep schedule of a teenager.    It wasn't uncommon for me to log on during our normal class meeting hours and then log back on after my own children went to bed.     

The school year ended and last year we did virtual learning with an A/B Hybrid Schedule.   It was a mess.    But we made it a functional mess.   We had a plan on how to make things work.   We did our best.    This school year, I feel like we're still cleaning up the mess.    I could go on and on about this, but I won't.    Let's just say that now that we've been back all year full time, I've learned the damage done to kids who had no real in-person instruction daily.  

While I know there are bound to be hiccups, I'm looking forward to next year.     Good-bye, COVID, please stay away from us.    I've been out of my comfort zone far too long.