"With a smile and a song / Life is just a bright sunny day / Your cares fade away / And your heart is young". (Frank Churchill and Larry Morey)
These are the lyrics to a song famously trilled by Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) in the famous Disney animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White was in peril; her stepmother the Queen was out to kill her and she was alone in the woods.
Replace the wicked Queen with COVID-19 and insert our uncertainties about returning to school in September (and the press conferences by the provincial Minister of Education that contains no new information) as a metaphorical abandonment. You won't be able to see any smiles because our masks cover our faces, but this week, with no ETFO Summer Academy to distract me, it was a plan and a song (and, let's be honest, several hours of playing both Animal Crossing New Horizons and now Animal Crossing New Leaf) that have carried me through.
There is so much uncertainty and one way to try and obtain a sense of control is to create a plan, even if that plan has to adapt and change repeatedly.
I signed up to be part of a writing project with my board. Led by Francine Schwartz (@denlowllc), the goal for the group I belonged to was to create a series of lesson plans that addressed social studies curriculum expectations and used critical thinking prompts and structures as modeled by The Critical Thinking Consortium. For June and July, I was quite stymied. I really didn't know what grade to focus on or what qualifier to use. The hope is that in the fall, we will use the lessons we design and then provide feedback to the organizers. I'm a teacher-librarian. I don't even know if I'll be doing my library job in a modified way, or taking a cohort of 15 as a classroom teacher, or being the all-around prep provider for just a few classes. (Note: I'm willing to do any of these scenarios.) Francine and I chatted so that I could "get over the hump" and it helped tremendously. I printed out helpful slides from Francine's workshop in the fall to refer to frequently. I found my writing rhythm and prepared a series of lessons that can be taught by me as part of prep, by me as a class teacher, by another teacher on their own, and/or by me in conjunction with the classroom teacher. I can't share the unit plan, because my contract states that it belongs to the TDSB and I need to clarify any restrictions. I hope that the lessons will be useful to me and to my fellow teachers. If inspiration hits twice, maybe I'll write one for a different grade level!
So what about the song part?
Well, as I mentioned in a June blog post, my sister and I have been hosting virtual tea parties with my mother. I think my father is just as thirsty for attention and companionship, because he joins us. We've done this eight times so far. Casual conversation can be challenging because of a) mom's dementia and b) a lack of anything new to report. My sister and I have overcome this in two ways - through games and songs.
Four years ago for Christmas, my sister made a book featuring comics she made with Bitstrips based on real events that happened when we were children. One of these traditions my sister documented in comic-form was sitting on my parents bed and singing together while Dad played the guitar.
At our request during one of the virtual tea parties, my brother brought out my father's guitar and played a song for us. Dad said that he couldn't remember how to play, but he played a song for us. He said his fingers were unaccustomed to playing and were sore afterwards but he still entertained us. Singing a song or two has now become part of the virtual tea party routine. My sister and I have started to video tape these tiny snippets of my parents singing.
Sometimes the words don't come as quickly to mind, but I'm amazed at how many stanzas *are* remembered by my parents. Dad never took guitar lessons; he just learned through experimentation and one of those songs he sang was a tune he had never tried before on the guitar. Mom always gets a big smile on her face when they sing together.
There are many health benefits to singing - see https://www.barbershop.org/the-health-benefits-of-singing for a huge list of research studies. I hope that when students return to school in the fall, there will be some way that singing can occur safely. Right now at church, we are allowed to sing - which sadly suits my spouse to a T.
I tacked on "games" because plans and songs technically aren't enough to keep me contented. I am still playing Animal Crossing New Horizons and added its predecessor to my repertoire. Video games are also my social outlet because I make a point of "visiting" B-Town (the island inhabited by the Brown family) once a week to check out their progress, chat with their villagers and have fun.
We even coordinated our outfits during our visits (while admiring villagers and room designs) pic.twitter.com/rA4SJi4Lmo
I'm translating this into a session that I'll run at #ECOOcampON sometime between August 25-27.
The next few weeks will be slowly ramping up (the activities and the anxieties) with AML think thanks, ETFO courses (as a participant), TDSB Beginning Teachers Conferences, TDSB new TL sessions, ECOO Camp and ... oh yes, getting ready for school. I hope to get through it all with a plan and a song (and some games thrown in for good measure).
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