Learning curve

From spending days at home turning into weeks now, following social distancing and stay at home directive; I am also learning how to teach my students from remote location. As an educator I have never worked from home, didn’t even think it was possible, till now when the unprecedented event is asking me to do so. This past week was a learning curve for many educators, including me, as we learned, unlearned and relearned how to pull up resources on online platform for students to make sure learning is still engaging, relevant and feasible for all our students. In the 2 weeks that I have been home, I got time to reflect & learn about myself. Self-reflection can be very powerful & can come to us at odd times like this when the world is on a standstill & we are hoping for everything to return to normalcy soon.

It is still not over. Yes the world situation we are in right now is far from being over & for us to go back to normalcy. We are not there, yet. But we will be, soon! We are still waiting, in torment to hear about cases around us, in hope that the vaccine will be made soon, in anticipation that the medicines chosen will work on all patients, in solidarity & in prayer for everyone is this world! May this world be blessed, may this all be over soon!

This week has been challenging. Working from home as an educator has been difficult! In addition I have 2 school-aged kids who are also home. I am thinking that may be this week is probably the easier one as plans are being put in place by educators, I have myself put in long hours every day; next week onwards it will be a different daily schedule of learning as I will try live lessons with students, meet with parents virtually for Q& A sessions & also try to balance work & home staying at home! Ah, let’s see how that goes…

In these times of uncertainty, pain, chaos, and stress, we need to find hope. We need to keep faith, be positive, be kind & generous- in our thoughts & actions, and be the small change we want to see in the world. We can do it together, as a family, as humanity comes together; we can & we will!❤️

Sharing here few things I am learning-

– Taking care of yourself is priority. You can not give out of an empty bucket. Self- care can come in different forms- physical, emotional, social, mental or spiritual. For me I am glad I was able to take care of each type for myself during the week of Spring break. I slept in when I could, took breaks from work, connected to friends daily in some form, talked to extended family longer & more often than usual, found some “me” time daily in the morning, exercised my body and mind, and got to enjoy some time of leisure with family.

– Learn to share the world we live in. It doesn’t matter who is powerful, has more money, lives in bigger house- we all are the same and connected to each other. This epidemic has affected us all in the same way, without looking at geography, race, nationality or position.

– Know that there will be times when things will be out of our control & comfort level. Is it stressful? Of course. An invisible virus has changed the world we live in! But at this time we should pay attention to what we can control. Our positivity, our thanks for what we already have in life, time to reflect & have an attitude of gratitude.

–Learn to adapt & learn in the process. We are human being & not invincible; instead we are all learners for life. We are learning how connected we are, and how social distancing will help us fight this battle. We have learned that social connections, which is keeping us sane, is crucial for society and for each one of us. We need each other, and need to help each other. In trying times like this we look at our heroes, people who are working and fighting for all of us, and be amazed and be thankful.

–It’s not the end of the world if you are stuck at home. We all have ignored our family, our near and dear ones, at one time or the other. Life is giving us a chance to be close knit, it is telling us that family matters and we should not take it for granted. Giving us a chance to rebuild our own home and strengthen our family. Remember that you can always do something constructive even in dire situations.

–Life is not a battle to win, but a journey to enjoy. Enjoy what you have. It is not the luxuries that you run after but be thankful for your basic necessities being met every single day!

–Nature takes it’s own course and will heal. Nature is reminding us to take a break, to take care of our physical and mental health; telling us to pause and not be in a rat race.

Reflection

In this post I will write about few activities that we hope to continue even after we get back to routine, and things return to normalcy.

• Journaling– We really like the GLAD journal. G-what are you grateful for, L-what did you learn today, A-what did you accomplish today, and D-what was your delight today, or what gave you the most delight today.
• Daily work out– As a family we are fitness enthusiasts and try to do physical movements (indoors or outdoors) on a daily basis.
• Taking out some alone time– For me it was being able to start each morning by just sitting outside in our yard for 10 min. This time can be used for planning ahead for your day, to reflect back on what you have accomplished (however small it may be), meditation, self-talk or anything else that can help you focus and be ready for the day.
• Quality family time– Even if its an hour or less, we try to spend some time as a family where we talk about current events, things on our mind and just have an engaging conversation, or if time permits play a game or 2.
• Keeping positive– This may sound difficult but it is not impossible. Your thoughts and attitude determine your action and eventually how your day turns out.
• Follow what is being told by CDC and local authorities-Our stay-at-home directive has come and we are doing our part by staying put, and following precautions as advised.

How it looks in virtual classroom

In addition, as an educator, I am learning ways to teach my students remotely. We are now doing online learning, and I am getting used to the new platform, resources and pulling up information so I am able to reach and meet the needs of all my students. This week has been challenging, learning how to plan & have all resources online and ready for access . It is very important not to overwhelm students by giving all the information at the same time, but instead to chunk it, do check-ins, contact parents, have a communication in place when students can reach you daily on a specified time, have projects or activities in place that are hands-on and not on a computer, virtual field trips so students can tour places sitting in their home, and have interactive discussions on a common platform for all students.

In conclusion

To summarize there has been a learning curve this year for most of all, if not all. This year is making us reflect, learn, un-learn, re-learn and gain insight about so many things. We just need to keep positive and look at silver lining. Let us all learn something that we can look back to later.

I would welcome any thought about how you are keeping positive, or something new you learned during these uncertain times. Please comment below or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com