That's It?

I've started several posts since school's been out due to COVID-19 and I haven't been able to finish one. I started one when other states started following suit to share my whopping two weeks of "remote learning" experience. I started one as a crash course to Google Classroom for those who found themselves learning it overnight. I started one mourning my inability to do the thing I love in the ways that I find most meaningful.

But today I'm going to finish one because the school year is (minus some professional development next week) finished. Yesterday was our final day of the 2019-2020 school year and saying "goodbye" to Zoom Brady Bunch squares was definitely the most anticlimactic Last Day of School I've ever experienced but also the most welcomed.

I've always enjoyed using Google Classroom to supplement my teaching but when I'm done with this post I will admit that there is going to be a bit of glee as I click the "archive" button for my classes this semester. Band does not work online. Not in the way that inspired me to choose it as a career and not in a way that brings kids in.

There is satisfaction in learning a solo part and it was fun playing duets with myself on Acapella, but what brings me joy in music is making it with other people, whether I'm teaching my middle school students or performing in a local wind ensemble.

I don't know what next school year is going to bring. Every time a new district or organization comes out with a study or proposal for the fall my Facebook and Twitter feed erupt in panic, misery, pessimism, and gloom. The fall is not going to be "normal" but it's also not going to be the same as our final two months this year when we all created an online curriculum overnight. I do however, have faith in my colleagues as we work together to come up with a better way to engage kids safely come fall.

And so, Year 12 unceremoniously wraps up. I'm grateful for my health and the health of my family and now it's time to socially distance from my laptop for a while.