We’re all holding our breaths about school and how it’s going to go, but it’s time to exhale a little, because even if we do everything perfectly or in good faith, it’s entirely possible for everything to fall apart.
No matter how perfectly we set up home learning spaces, create schedules that let kids do school and parents work, create lesson plans that engage kids without giving them Zoom fatigue, balance lessons and socialization, create the perfect safe hybrid schedule, distance and mask consistently, put in enough face time with managers, and pay attention to every detail, things can still fail.
Technology can fail and kids won’t be able to get to classes and lessons, and parents won’t be able to work out go to meetings.
Kids will disengage from too much time on camera and on screens.
Kids may be so much happier doing school online that they start worrying about going back in person.
Families might spend so much time together that tensions and resentments blow up into real fights and broken relationships.
Teachers might hate teaching online and hit motivational walls.
Some people are going to get sick even if all schools go online only.
It can all fall apart, even if we all do our best.
A lot of us have been so focused on making the exact right decision that we’re putting so much pressure on ourselves to hold it all together alone.
When something fails, that’s not your fault. It’s not your failure. It’s a failure of a system that isn’t designed to bear the weight of the entire country.
Keeping it all together doesn’t mean that nothing ever fails. It just means that when things fail, you keep on going.
You can do this.
Do you want support for this semester? I’ve opened up registration for the daily email sequence, the All Together Autumn support group, and I have a few spots open for one-on-one support with private sessions. Find out more and register for either the emails, the group, or the private support at magdapecsenye.myshopify.com
Love,
Magda
Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema