Rewind

I went into the week of March 9th tentatively - apprehensively.  After all, the weekend prior brought us a time change (spring forward) and we were slated to have a full moon and Friday the 13th all in the same week.  For a teacher, that is usually something to take pretty cautiously.  There are superstitions galore about how these factors influence the behavior of our students.  Some of them more true than others - but the lore lives on and often puts some of us teachers a bit on edge.  We knew this was going to be a week to bring our A game.  Then came the Coronavirus.  

For many places around the country, Coronavirus had already hit and was continuing to hit with with force.  Oregon was just starting to feel the punch of the virus as the talk and news media about it became more and more concerning.  None of these reports seemed to really find a home on my radar...yet.  The priorities in my mind were the lesson plans to create, the relationships to be kindled, and travel arrangements for my cousin's upcoming wedding made.  I thought I'd keep my eyes on the news - but really I (naively) thought this was all much ado about nothing.

By Wednesday, March 11th, I started to think differently.  I was closely watching how Washington state was handling the situation, and alarming news reports were coming in.  University systems moved to online learning only, major festivals and events for St. Patrick's Day were cancelled, the death toll from the virus was rising.  The NBA suspended games.  It was determined that NCAA March Madness would be played without fans.  Major League Baseball was in talks about what to do about their season, and Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, tested positive for Covid-19.  Then, schools started closing down.  The gravity of the situation was starting to settle in.

On Thursday, my students and I talked briefly about the news reports they were seeing and the information they were accessing on social media.  A lot of questions came up regarding what would happen in Oregon, what would happen at our school, and how they would continue to learn if they weren't in classrooms?  I didn't have any answers for them.  But, I knew that they needed to start considering the possibility that a shut down could occur if state leadership made that call.  By Thursday night, Oregon state governor, Kate Brown, did make that call.  Schools were ordered to close effective March 16-March 31.  Students were anticipated to report back on April 1, while teachers were to report March 30th.

And, so, that was that.  With a day of notice, we saw our students off without knowing how or when we would next be able to communicate with them.