March 5, 2020
Dear Humanities teachers,
Dear Humanities teachers,
I’m writing to you with a plea.
There are a lot of reasons to be worried about coronavirus, and reasons we want to take response upon ourselves: Government didn’t equip itself to find out who has COVID 19, and now it’s here; and while big tech sends workers home and some districts and even some countries closed their schools, Seattle Public Schools seems to be saying, Assemble in your closed rooms and tell kids to wash their hands. Maybe it’s right for us to close schools.
But there are also public health consequences for closure and quarantine. Kids-at-home is a real economic strain—adults-not-working, because of shuttered schools or because of chain reaction job closures is, also, a strain, with its own cascade of social, psychological and somatic effects. This is to say nothing of the escalating fear, anger, isolation, and xenophobia that result in such an atmosphere.
We are capable of spreading a virus. But we are capable of spreading panic, too. Panic has real-world consequences, and not all these have to do with being more careful.
Amy wrote to me last night to suggest teachers prepare transportable lessons for students to have at the ready, and gather information about student home access to Internet. That seems like fine advice. I also advise wedging your school door open during the day, so we can minimize contact with door handles.
Right now, open doors are better for us all than closed ones.
David
March 11,
2020
Dear
families and students (LA 9, Margins and Centers, Hands for a Bridge),
A few days ago, as a warm-up, I
asked a couple of classes what they’d do with their time if they unexpectedly
had a couple weeks at home. One student said she’d catch up on television. One
student said he’d write new music. Many said they’d do homework.
Now those two weeks have arrived.
Teachers have been asked to
provide students with optional, supplemental materials outside of our scheduled
curriculum. As an English teacher, that’s an easy one: Students should read
books! They should write!
When students have asked me in
the past how to get higher grades or how to improve writing, the hard answer is
what most improves writing, grammar, spelling, sophistication of thought is
reading, reading, reading; reading improves all those things, and deepens
empathy, and juices the imagination. I ardently believe in the imaginative,
reflective powers of reading. The nearly thousand year old technology of bound
books provides a sustained focus of thought and imagination that is a source of
pleasure, empathy and critical thought available even in today’s crowded life. This
is a hard answer because students are so busy with school work; but now there’s
time!
It can take a bit to get into a
book when you haven’t been reading. But then the brain starts to relax into it.
Curl up with a book!
Here are things, in addition to
reading books, I recommend:
·
Write in journals every day.
·
Meditate.
·
Build a new exercise routine.
·
Learn to cook new things.
·
Alter your diet in some way you’ve been thinking
about.
In addition to trying out new
routines and reading, consider ways you can contribute to the household more—cooking,
organizing, cleaning, child care. Clean your room!
You can also think about your
neighbors: Does anyone on your block have both jobs and young kids whose school
has been cancelled? Parents with younger kids might be desperate for your help.
Finally, I want to say this:
Students welcomed the school closures with jubilation. This made teachers
nervous. We want students to know this closure is about a real attempt to
control the spread of COVID 19, and we hope that you respect the demands of
social distancing. The time our schools are closed is not an opportunity for lots
of hanging out and adventuring, acts which may negate the very extreme step
taken in shutting it all down.
Thank you. Read a book.
I’ll be available through email
if you have old work or desire to check in.
David
Grosskopf
