Week 7- Teacher in Lockdown

Week 7 of a teacher in lockdown complete and what a different week in my world to last week. For no clear and apparent reason everything felt harder this week. That’s life I guess. The pre-lockdown world too had its ups and downs and perhaps that’s all it is. From the moment I logged in to teach my first Google lesson of the week I could tell the students were beginning to wain. “How’s everyone doing today?” I asked my class…silence. “Is my mic working”?… “yep”. And that about sums the week up! Of course the novelty was going to wear off sooner or later. I wonder if this was a turning point in lockdown life where many of us are just fed up. The world of teaching is a tricky industry currently with schools finding their own way through the forest of distance learning. My school continues to evolve it’s programmes and connection with students, parents and staff remains at the forefront of our leaders minds. Whilst the week was off to a rocky start, some positives emerged towards the end. My tutor group took it in turns to screen share their life on time goals they had set since lockdown began. It was fantastic to see so many of them putting effort and thought into setting SMART goals, many of them being reached. One student explained that the feeling of pride and achievement had been really motivating during these strange times. The power of effective goal setting was clear to be seen through my Chromebook screen. As I bid a virtual farewell to my year 11 and 13 classes, I Iook toward week 8, and focus on the positives again. I will probably remember this week as a tricky one which has been navigated and filed away.