Hi first graders (and I am sure many others),
A quick video from Mr. Stevenson and Gemma: video
What a time it has been to be a teacher!?!
This year started fully remote for all kids which went better than expected! There were some definite kinks along the way, but the kids met my goals. My goals for remote learning were to create something sustainable and for everyone to have fun. Once October arrived, things completely changed as we prepared to have kids back in person. This brought a lot of feelings out for a lot of people, but ultimately it has been a success. From a teacher perspective, the challenges have been balancing what the kids actually need (social vs. academic), creating a schedule where there are lots of time to wash hands that fits into the framework of a shortened school day, and giving these first graders a sense of what it means to be a student at school. Over the first weeks of being back in class, the kids were faced with the challenge on how to function independently and work on building up their academic endurance. The kids were provided authentic times to learn and have fun! They have made their teacher very proud.
After 13 years, I am still doing many new things in the classroom. One thing I never thought I would do, but recently did, was answer my phone in front of all of the kids. I knew that my wife was at a doctor's appointment and I had some definite husband guilt. What I heard from Mrs. Stevenson prompted me to call our principal. What I told Mr. Lindemann was very short but probably not the sweetest! I told him that "I need to go...now!" This occurred as kids were wrapping up snack and getting ready to start math. Now wrapping up snack in a COVID-world classroom requires a lot of hand washing and disinfecting! Within a few minutes, adults from school were told what I needed for the kids to do to finish out the school day and I was moving down the highway and dodging college students in the crosswalks to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center!
Within minutes of arriving and coming eye to eye with a first grade parent (who must have been confused to see me during the school day), I found Mrs. Stevenson in the Birthing Pavilion Triage room. In what seemed like seconds later, about five or six doctors came in and told us that the best course of action was to induce labor. Now Mrs. Stevenson was nearly 36 weeks pregnant so the doctors felt that the baby would be safe! After getting settled into a room and being reassured I wouldn't miss the birth, I headed home to grab some clothes for the soon to be "Stevenson Party of 3" and to school to lay out plans for first graders that would keep them learning at the same (I would argue higher due to no crazy Mr. Stevenson) level for a few weeks. Being the prepared person that I am all of this was very quick as I had everything pretty much ready to go!
After many tense and sleepless hours, our daughter, Gemma Mae Stevenson, was born on November 7, 2020 at 8:59 AM. All of us are doing well despite being exhausted and we have adjusted to being home. All three of us can't begin to describe how grateful we are for all of the positive words, meals, books, and other random things that have been dropped off on our porch! We moved here to raise a family because the community is truly wonderful! I look forward to watching Gemma grow up in this community. This has been a hard year for a lot of people but because of a lot of people we have had many moments of positivity mixed into a hard year. Thank you all!
I look forward to being back in first grade on Monday, November 30, 2020, but in the mean time have a safe and meaningful Thanksgiving!
