The school day started quite well. I thought I was settled in my ‘office space’ in our grade level hub, which I had created from the new classroom furniture. My belongings moved with me to this space in a trolley, thoughtfully partitioned to house a teacher’s different needs. On Wednesdays students learn online and most of the work for a majority of students is asynchronous.
I still had a packed day with a full schedule planned. Individual meetings, small group meetings and a community meeting to start us all off. Of course my ‘transitional laptop’ went off prematurely so I had to move from my comfy, made up space to find a place to charge it.
I had signed up for the Covid vaccine, and felt we would be invited today. Last night I placed my ID card in my wallet. I was right , many of us, teachers and school staff, were invited for the vaccine, but had to queue for hours. After a long wait and some wrangling we all had our vaccines and a few of us hailed a cab back to work.
At school, I joined the tail end of our team meeting, it was all a blur as I had missed most of the discussion.
I rushed home as my daughter had an online assessment organised by a tutor, I had to supervise. I wore a different hat and found it all quite overwhelming as we had a very short time to get ready. I was panicking and had to print out some sheets for her to ensure all her questions were accessible.
I felt for parents and empathised with their plight. I kept wondering if that is the way we make our parents feel, especially during this period of online learning.
GIFTS 
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