But this post is not about the mailbox or the mirror or failed car inspection. That was Monday. Nope, this post is about Tuesday and that old saying, "If you keep making that face, it will freeze that way!" Remember being told that as a child? Silliness, right? And yet, with all this snazzy remote learning, that warning is more true than ever.
If you are a frequent reader, you already know about Bear, our cute little puppy that we adopted in April. He was 10 weeks and 11 pounds then. He is now a 9 month-old 70 pound puppy. So Monday during period 3, Bear was happily lying next to the piano chewing on something. The dogs, there are three, have chew toys all over the house, so there was really no reason for alarm...until he let out a yelp that sent me jumping from my desk chair in the middle of a discussion about early 1900 immigration with my US History class. Immediately after his yelp, my class had gone black. When I went toward Bear, he was cowering. At the same time, Maccaroni children, who were all supposed to be in classes, began walking toward me saying how the internet had gone out, and it became apparent what had happened. Bear had chewed clear through our modem/router power cord and gotten a shock that scared him more than injured him. Thank God he's huge!
It is rare that I am affected by such seemingly normal Maccaroni-life-occurrences. But anyone who knows me well knows that I don't take teaching lightly. I began to get those feelings of frustration that make me feel I need to fix it...NOW! My kids were awesome...and why wouldn't they be? They got a free pass from period 4. I had them email their teachers with the present-day version of the dog ate my homework, which they really enjoyed a little too much. I went to Staples to see if the cord was replaceable but since it wasn't I purchased a new device and went home to do the set-up. Hopefully this has been fun for you so far. We are not even at the face-freezing part yet...but here it comes.
The kids and I were back in business by lunchtime and ready to take on the afternoon. That is when I decided it might be interesting to see what the Zoom recording showed in terms of the dog-yelp and what my students did in my absence. I went to my Zoom account, clicked on recordings, and that is when the old saying came to life..."If you keep making that face, it will freeze that way!" The recording said it all. Me in mid-sentence, Bear's loud screech, and then, the frozen face...
Maybe someone can explain this to me...frozen faces have become the norm...every day my students freeze in class, they tell me I am frozen, and at times we all share that "frozen in this moment" look, but we never freeze in a flattering pose. Why am I never full smile and bright eyes in that frozen screen shot?
Then again, maybe that is the lesson here. These crazy remote learning days are just a moment in time.
No need for alarm. No need for constant battling and worry. Some day in the not-so-far-future, these days will be nothing more than the memory of a moment frozen in time. What will your face look like in that memory? Let it be one of calm and serenity. Let it be one of happy childhood memories when your students look back and say:
- "My teacher was awesome!"
- "He made sure we were OK everyday when we got on."
- "We had so much fun!"
- "She greeted me by name each day."
- "She was beautiful inside and out!"
- "This one time when his face froze, he was laughing so hard that he was smiling from ear to ear...that's how I remember him."
