Dear Student

Dear Student,

You needed me today.  I saw it when you posted to the classroom page at 4:13 AM.  Every day I hear you make a comment about struggling to stay asleep.  In each zoom lesson, I watch the bags under your eyes get larger and darker.  I see the smiles that used to be so ready barely shine and I worry.

You appeared in my open extra help zoom session.  I could tell that you just wanted to talk to your friends. Once we reviewed the topic, I asked if you all wanted me to turn off my mic and camera so that you could meet together.  Your little voice stopped me, “No, can you stay? I want to see you.”  I listened to discussions of BTS.  It’s a deep debate as to who is the most talented.  I’ll have to listen to them myself to make an educated decision.  I watched the time march on and knew that I was going to miss my professional development on supporting children through this difficult time.  I thought, maybe, this might be an opportunity to do just that.

You asked if you can make your own meeting for your friends.  I told you to post a link on the google class. I gave it a few minutes and jumped into the meeting and found you alone with tears in your eyes.  You smiled when you saw me.  I grabbed my lunch and we ate together.  I did some work as we talked about your fears.  I calmly explained that one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is hope.  We hope that this will end soon but we know that it will end and we will be together again. I spoke about Lent and how much Jesus sacrificed for us and this was a real opportunity for us to sacrifice to take care of the world that God created.

I felt my own troubled mind calm as I supported you.  You don’t know that I lost a friend two days ago and two more close friends are hospitalized.  You don’t know that five people in my extended family have tested positive.  You don’t know that I worry every day that I won’t make it through this because of my compromised immune system.  You don’t know that every day I dream of hugging each of you one more time.  You can’t know that I listened to two teachers cry this morning because they were so disappointed that the distance learning was extended. All they want, all any of us want, is to be with you; to dance around the room feeding off your energy.

So dear student, I needed you today. Thank you for picking me up without realizing it.

With love always,

Your teacher