I am a Fern

One of my favorite units in Grade 2 science is our unit on plant needs. After a series of explorations to discover that plants need water, sunlight, and dirt, we take a step back to ask this question: do all plants need the same amount of these things? Anyone who has ever owned an orchid or a cactus knows that plants require different amounts of sunlight and water based on their native environment. What causes one plant to thrive causes another plant to die.

Teaching online has caused some of my coworkers to wilt. They still put all of their energy and enthusiasm into teaching, but they are not receiving the same energy replenishment that they would receive from in-person teaching. They are like sunflowers that have been planted in the shade, not getting the energy they need to thrive.

I have found that my energy levels have been pretty similar in both online and in-person school. I almost have more energy when school is online because I don’t need to spend so much of it on classroom management (but I turn that energy into solving problems and learning new methodologies, so it’s about the same in the end). Online school hasn’t caused me to wilt in the way it has for other teachers around me. I am more of a shade-loving fern than a sun-loving sunflower.

As a fern, I am about to embark on a new stage of teaching. The government has allowed our school to open in-person for any students whose parents are willing to send them. However, an online option still needs to be available for any parents who do not feel comfortable sending their children to school. My principal decided that the best way to do this would be to have one homeroom teacher from each grade teach all of the online students and the other two homeroom teachers from each grade split the students who come in-person.

I have to admit, I am a little sad to be chosen as the teacher who remains online. I will have to keep adapting my lessons for at-home learning and preparing learning packets to send home a week in advance. I will likely have a mixed-up class as students from three homerooms combine into one. It’s likely that my class will have to celebrate our Christmas party virtually and end the year without a picture of all of us together.

Still, I know I am up for the task. I am transitioning back to work-from-school instead of work-from-home, and I think the energy of campus will be revitalizing. Seeing the other teachers thrive will remind me that I am the right person for this assignment. I will still get to see the students originally in my homeroom on the playground even if they aren’t in my online class. I get to keep my routine and my schedule, and I still don’t have to wear myself out with classroom management. Being a fern is a gift to me and a gift to my teaching team in this season, and I am glad that everyone gets to be in a place where they can thrive.