We are in this profession because we care. About students. About families. About learning. None of that has changed! We still can find ways to show our kids how much they mean to us, and how much we care. Those relationships can’t be stopped by 6 feet (or more) of distance!

We have been functioning for years in less-than-ideal circumstances. Lack of funding = purchasing our own supplies, larger class sizes, and generally being asked to do more with less. You could almost say we are experts at adapting to the situation and making do! Here is another chance for our creative selves to shine. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and I know we will come out of this having invented new (and sometimes better!) ways of thinking about our instruction and what really matters in a class.

Standardized testing. Educator effectiveness. Unfunded mandates. We are all-too-familiar with the number of things that get added to our plates, yet we persevere. That all-important “grit” that we talk about with kids? Just like always, we are going to keep going when the going gets tough and work through hardship.

So you see, even though a lot has changed, the most important things haven’t. We will work through this next chapter of education, together, because our students are worth it. The tools might look different (hello, Hangouts/Meet and Schoology), but the core of education will stay the same – helping our students learn and grow into happy, healthy, and well-rounded human beings.

Teachers, we’ve got this!