Day Twenty Seven. Putting on a happy face. Staying the course. Going through the motions. Seeing the bigger picture. Seeking the positive. Attempting not to get caught up in the devilry of the details. Struggling. This morning, I am struggling with all the above.
Just go along. Don’t ask the questions. Don’t raise any alarms. Keep your nose in your classes. Do your work, with your kids. Let the rest go. Now, is not the time. Just shut your door.
And I suppose now is not the time. Times are strange. Times are tough. And as we roll out more specifics with what we can/cannot and should/should not do in the remaining weeks, times will get tougher–at least tenser, for there are things that will come to the surface, things that have remained unresolved in education for years, things that will likely boil over and make messier an already sticky situation.
In particular, I am referring to grading. Today, it seems, we will learn what the state has provided in terms of guidance for grading in this distance learning reality we find ourselves. And there will, I believe, be devils dancing in the details, for in the “normalest” of times, we struggle as an institution with grades’ place and purpose in the realm of learning. And now, in the strangest of times, despite our leaders’ earnest efforts at mission impossible (answering the grading question), we all will struggle greatly: administrators, teachers, counselors, students, and parents.
I will struggle greatly. It was this very struggle–grading–that prompted me to start this journey, this blog four years ago as I sought to “change education.” And now, that education has changed in ways unimagined, we, I believe, will fall upon hard times as we deal with the skeletons in our closet, the devils in our den.
Of course, I could be wrong. And, yes, I do have a penchant for the dramatic. And maybe that’s all this is, a manic musing from behind the screen. And if it is, the time is not now. So, I will quietly shut my door.
Happy Tuesday, all. Sorry for the grumpy post this morning.
Do. Reflect. Do Better.
No matter what they tell us in Illinois, we will get through this. My students know what I believe about grading, and hopefully I’ve instilled (in the 2.5 quarters of the year we had together) enough for them to be okay with whatever goes down, and to know I’ll be giving them tons of grace. No worry about grumpy posts – mine have turned that way many days, as well. 😉 One day at a time, Monte.
Thank you, Joy. Always. Yes, one day at a time. Today is better. Take care, my friend.