January Blues 💙

The last week of January. Students have been online, learning remotely since the holidays ended (longer for some). It’s hard. Teaching them through the computer is hard. 💻 🎧 Yes, technology has brought us closer -- we can see and hear one another, and I marvel at this! At the same time, despite all this technological advancement, something is missing. That face to face element. 👩🏻‍🏫

We try to engage in mental health activities, to bring some calm and balance to ourselves and others. As teachers, we often hear background noises, and therefore cameras of students are generally off and muted, while we teach to black screens. On Friday, we did a mental health check-in with the class. ✅ The range of coloured hearts in reply, varied. When class started, one of the students let us know with a 💜 that she was not doing well. She then abruptly left the Zoom call. After a few Google Classroom messages on the stream and a phone call home, she rejoined. Slowly throughout the day, she became more engaged. As her spirits lifted, on our chat, her heart emoji went from 💚 to 🧡 and eventually ❤️.

Our class read aloud really helped. Thank you Judy Blume. 📖

This is why we do what we do. We help those around us, and in doing so, ultimately ourselves.

In my own home this week, there were a few meltdowns. None of them was Johnny. 🐕‍🦺 Ups and downs, and a lot of communication and miscommunication later, we ended up back on the same page. For now. 👀 I spoke with my brother in law, who incidentally also had a tough week. A lot of time alone, editing for his work projects. 🖥 Gone is that getting out of our homes, for errands, outings, and social events. Human interaction.

We have to dig deep and find our solace wherever we can. Talking definitely helps. 👍🏽👍🏽

For me this week, it was work, even if from my laptop. It was cleaning the basement, after completed flood renovations. It was giving Johnny a much needed bath. It was my cousin’s recommendation, of Prime Video’s Yellowstone. 🤠 Small graces.

Because the burdens of a cold winter, staying at home, and not seeing family nor friends weigh on us all. People feel alone and are lonely. And I am sorry for this. 😞 Know that many are feeling this way.

And don’t lose faith. 🙏🏽