We got the email Thursday night. The kids' school was canceled for the foreseeable future. By 10 p.m. that night, instructional plans were laid out in an email and a "bell schedule" for each day in place. At 8 a.m. Friday, the kids were at their desks and ready to roll, with lectures, tests, quizzes, homework, etc. There were some giggles and laughter as students collaborated with each other online in group chats, watched their teachers lecture and listened to subject matter presented in this new and different way. It was a great success. We are very fortunate to have school-issued MacBooks, with a familiar digital instructional software platform that the kids have been using for years. Schooling for the next few weeks will be online and follow this bell schedule until they go back, if they do. I feel lucky to have such structure in place for my kids, and have confidence in my school’s ability to keep up their students' academics for the next few months. But, frankly, I am trying not to feel guilty about the fact that our kids will be able to continue to get instruction uninterrupted! Many of my friends are at a loss about how to manage the next few weeks and months with their children — it's a hot topic -- how to manage and coerce kids into instruction. More pointedly, many across Atlanta are not so concerned about how to find instruction for their children, but how to not lose their jobs, keep food on the table, pay bills and keep the household finances clicking along. This event is making me hugely grateful for the position were in. My husband can’t travel, sporting and extracurricular events have been canceled, church is suspended, and trips to see older family members also canceled. (The boys’ robotics team’s 2020 World Championships has been canceled, too, so, they’ve been forced to learn that life goes on after a huge disappointment.) These cancelations leave us with unusually wide swaths of family time together. But, I gotta tell you, from where I sit, this is a gift. And, my wish is that many others will be able to feel this way, too. It's a reboot. It’s found time, it’s problem solving together time, it's house project time, it’s lesson-learning time, it’s quiet time, it's family time. It's helping others time. It's time to breathe, time to walk in the forest. It’s time we’ll never get back, that we’ve got now. I, for one, am going to live in the moment, and enjoy it! Off to take a walk in the national forest…
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AuthorJulia Curran-Villarreal is a three-time USA W55 national masters high jump champion. After a 35-year break from her favorite high school sport of track & field, Julia returned to competition in 2013 at the age of 53. Follow her journey on @juliajumping on Instagram and @juliacurran on Twitter. Archives
August 2019
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