A Special Education Teacher Reflects on a Challenging Time
It has been over three years since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down school districts nationwide. The U.S. shifted into a state of loss and then grief. Loss of what we thought was stable, including income, job security, and daily routines. Loss of over a year’s worth of social plans we had for ourselves including graduation parties, family reunions, and weddings. Plans were put on hold repeatedly and hearts felt the heaviness of disappointment non-stop.
Despite the life-altering changes our society has faced, there are what I call 3 gifts of grief from this pandemic. These gifts include gratitude, connection, and humility.
The Gift of Gratitude
What we knew initially as educators back in March of 2020 was simply that school would be put on hold. The first press announcements included the word, “weeks” and soon thereafter came announcements including words like, “months” and “unknown.” As the weeks turned into months, and then into a year, nothing was the same.
As individuals, in every diverse role we filled, we were pushed to new areas of skill and patience: as parents, as partners, as friends, and in our work roles. Would we have jumped on this crazy train of overwhelming change by choice, previous to this time of pandemic? I will make a bold assumption that we wouldn’t have. However, here we were; holding on tightly and bracing against the winds of change that came as an onslaught daily. We grew in areas of self-compassion and compassion towards others, which in turn birthed gratitude for ourselves and others.
As educators, we had to practice and develop and arguably were forced to face, the mastery of new technology. The term, “zooming” held a very different definition before distance teaching. Our ability to access and implement digital instruction increased with new problems to solve such as chronic absences due to poor WiFi connections. Aren’t those newly developed understandings, perspectives, and skills worth being grateful for?
Please, recognize your sense of accomplishment, new identities of fortitude, and willingness to keep pushing forward in the wake of it all. With this recognition, gratitude will naturally follow.
The Gift of Connection
In the classroom, we found ourselves stepping back and seeing social-emotional learning as a higher priority. Teaching how to identify one's emotions and how to verbalize those feelings was paramount. Hearing our students, and ourselves, identifying these emotions out loud was a powerful way to validate the feelings of others and admit our own. In doing so, our level of emotional connection with others increased and they felt welcomed.
Our society has never held such a place to honor feelings as it does now. The distance learning model welcomed educators straight into the personal lives of families as we played back on computers in their living rooms, back patios, and kitchen tables. Our voices echoed down the hallways of homes that we would never have visited in person otherwise. We saw the faces of parents on a more regular basis and met siblings of our students during unexpected cameo appearances with their little smiling faces right up close to the computer camera. We connected in more intimate ways with parents as they saw what we do for their children and we grew to appreciate them.
This gift of connection impacted our own families as well! We grew to appreciate shared minutes with our aging parents or grandparents on video calls with our children. Did we value those opportunities as greatly before the pandemic? We grew to know our children on a deeper level as our time together at home was in greater abundance. We saw them play, heard their laughter, and enjoyed snuggles and eye contact instead of spending so many hours outside of the home and away from each other.
This has been a gift unparalleled in previous year-long periods. We connected with arms linked and eyes focused on making it through.
The Gift of Humility
Didn't we miss the little things like hugs and handshakes? Celebrations with others, live music, going to the movies, seeing a Broadway show, or visiting Grandma and Grandpa were things we saw through the new lens of longing. This longing birthed the beauty of humility. Humility is our ability to experience a more modest view of what is important and who is important.
Without question, the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of practicing love towards others as we grieved with loved ones and friends through their health battles when testing positive with COVID-19. For us, that exchange of love became a more finely tuned skill set as we navigated from fear to hope amidst relentless powerlessness. Powerlessness forces our pride away as we ask for help. Practicing humility uncovers the beautiful interiors of our vulnerability which otherwise are kept hidden.
Even people who historically “always have it together” were not able to “have it all together” without needing support at some point that year. Toilet paper was scarce so neighbors shared with neighbors. Humility was displayed in the look of worry, the tears that were shed, and the defeat we felt from loss in varied ways. The grief was wrenching, but also full of beauty. So aren’t we, as educators, as parents, and as the human population more united and stronger than before? We grew and we became a greater society.
Though we may have been in quite a constant state of grief and stress throughout the time of the pandemic, the parting gifts included gratitude, connection, and humility. In hindsight, whatever the unknown of this pandemic held for us it came with the opportunity to grow through the gifts that accompanied the grief.
.jpg)
