Yes, I know I didn’t write yesterday. My post from the previous day was later in the evening, and let’s be honest, I’m quarantined and my life just isn’t that interesting.
Onward we go!
Shout out to Zoom.us. I had never heard of this company/app/program prior to this pandemic. As a teacher, we don’t have virtual staff meetings (until tomorrow) we don’t have virtual classrooms, so I had not used this before. 
Since we are unable to be in person I have had a bunch of Zoom meetings in the last couple of weeks. The HS English department has met several times, my friend Sang and I have met to discuss English 10, my wife and I have had happy hour with friends. It’s been a great way to try and stay connected with others who you would normally see face to face.
Yesterday was the Zoom meeting that impacted me the most. I have been emailing my English 10 students 3-4 days a week with articles and things they could read, or places to find things to read, and last week I threw out the idea of having a Zoom meeting. The response back was less than enthusiastic, I think only 3-4 kids responded, so I wasn’t sure what to expect yesterday when I logged into the Zoom meeting.
I was pleasantly surprised when I ended up with 15-20 kids logging in. Honestly, it was one of the most uplifting experiences of this tough time. It was great to see my students and to see and hear them interact with each other. We talked very little about curriculum, although they were upset we didn’t get to finish reading the play that we were reading. I think the experience was therapeutic for everyone. I was able to answer some questions that they had about what has been going on, and dispel some rumors that they were hearing. We met for a little more than an hour, and the time flew. The consensus from the kids was that it was a resounding success, and they wanted to do another one.
As I am writing this post, Gov. Whitmer just announced that in-person classes are canceled for the remainder of the school year. With that, I will close this post.
Lots of thoughts going through all our heads. I will share some of them in tomorrow’s post.
In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, STAY HOME, and always remember, PEOPLE CARE ABOUT YOU!
The High Release 
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