March 13th, 2020. This was the day when everything changed. For about a week until this point, people have been discussing this terrifying virus that was taking over the lives of so many individuals. I hadn't been afraid until this day. I was home on a personal day, when I received an email at 10:30 in the morning from my principal stating that we needed to make sure that the students go home with materials they will need for the next several weeks. Schools would be closing down for a little while. I thought to myself that this couldn't be happening. My stomach started to flutter and my palms began to sweat. Now I was starting to worry. What did my students need? What should I send home? Will they work on the materials that I am sharing with them? How will I let the substitute know what to get prepared for my students? There were so many unknowns. I decided that I needed to go to my classroom to wrap my head around what was happening. I needed to be there for my students once they found out that schools would be closing down. When I arrived at school, you could almost hear a buzzing throughout the hallways. A buzzing that could only be the conversations of individuals talking about these next two weeks. "It's just a worse version of the flu. We'll be back in two weeks. A deep clean will be good for the school." All the voices I heard, all of words people were saying, were tangling themselves around in my head as I walked to my classroom. When I walked up to my classroom, the students were at recess. Thank god, I have some time to think. What would I say? How will they respond? I spent the next half hour gathering their materials the best I could hoping they would have enough to keep them busy for the next few weeks. When my students arrived back at our classroom after recess, they were surprised to see me. I asked them to join me on the carpet because I had something to share with them. I sat in my stool looking at all of their faces, not sure what words would come out of my mouth. When I shared the news that school would be closed for two weeks, their initial response was excitement. They started asking questions as to why this was happening and I could slowly see their smiles start to fade. Now, they looked anxious. I promised them that I would see them in two weeks and we would be able to get back to normal. That day when I said goodbye to them all, I had an uneasy feeling but tried to stay hopeful. I told myself, "I'll see them in two weeks." This was a promise that I couldn't keep. What I could continue to promise is that I would do whatever I had to to support them any way that I could.

May 5th, 2021. As educators, we have navigated through one of the toughest school years that we could have ever imagined. Transitioning between three learning models unexpectedly. I remember the day that our schools closed down so vividly. I can relive each and every moment. At first I was angry, then I was sad, exhausted, and felt like the obstacles would never end. Now that I sit back and think about the year we have had I don't feel sad or angry, but I feel proud. I feel proud of my students and how they stepped to the plate and knocked this year out of the park. I am not worried about gaps or students being "behind" because they learned things within the last year that they never thought possible. They learned to be resilient.