These days have been a new challenge in many ways. Our routine has changed, the families are at home, kids are not going to school as well as teachers and because of that our profession has gotten a new value. I am a high school teacher, I teach English at Preparatoria 15, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Monterrey México, we are a public school which houses around 3,000 teenagers. The pandemic took us exactly in the middle of the semester, our students were taking the middle term evaluation. One day we were ready for a long weekend and during those days we were informed that our students, as well all the university students and teachers have to stay at home. We were eager waiting for that long weekend as an opportunity to relax at home 3 days in a row, which have now become a month staying safe at home being patient and obedient for more weeks or even months to be socially distanced. 

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My university has been very responsible facing the Coronavirus crisis so students, teachers, and administration are at home. Anyway we are working, we cannot be inside the offices nor classrooms, but instead we are now inside our own houses: we have changed our classrooms by our computers. It has been an important lesson for us, now we get in contact by Microsoft Teams and Nexus, our own digital platform. It has been an evolution, from one day to another, we have moved our typical formats to the digital ones. However, we haven't been substituted by the computers; computers will not take our roll. Fortunately,  computers, technology, platforms and, of course, internet connection are our new super best friends, because they have made the new format of our job possible. I feel happy to see my colleagues on the screen to have our planning meeting in order to come back after the Easter break.    

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Besides being a teacher, I am a wife and mother of two young students (1 and 7 years old), so I am in contact with other mothers facing this situation at home and I have listened phrases like: “What a difficult job is to teach 30, I almost give up with one, my own!” “If I think it twice, I guess the school tuition is not so expensive after all! Parents are facing problems and it gives us something positive, now they appreciate our job more! I feel proud about it!  

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Anyway, I have to recognize that families were not prepared to change to this format in a minute, lots of parents have to handle their work with the kids at home and at the same time supervise their homework or online sessions. It is an exceptional challenge that I know we will soon overcome. 

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Coronavirus has modified our typical lesson plans, it was not on the school agenda. I know that teachers organize it with all their heart working with other colleagues to have the best school year. However, in this 2020, little ones could not have their Spring Festival; we were not able to see kids dressed as flowers, butterflies or birds. The same will happen in Children´s Day (April 30th) celebration at school. I guess mothers will not have their handicrafts for Mother´s Day (May 10th). Nor will teachers have parties and gifts for Teacher's Day (May 15th). In the same way, neither will students have their graduation ceremony nor their prom party. 

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People are worried because of the academic knowledge kids are missing, we all have to reflect on the possibilities we have. As parents, we can work on the emotional field, on the human part. So, we would better take advantage of these days to teach them handmade activities, housework, cooking or gardening, which I know kids will enjoy. It is our opportunity to create memories during these days.

 

In the future, kids will remember the way that their parents helped them to overcome these tough times; they will remember if we gave them time, if we made them feel safe in a peaceful home, being positive and being optimistic even in the adversities.  In my case, I have been creating good moments because I know that my kids (particularly the older one) will remember this situation as well as we perfectly remember what we were doing the day of the Twin Towers attack. I guess that all of us have that memory on our brains, we remember where we were, who we were with, how we felt. The same will happen to our kids, even to us adults. It will bee a topic to share with the new generations, so we would better do our best to create something memorable. Even though my kids know that we are in a very risky situation, that we cannot visit our relatives, they have asked us to visit their grandparents, but it is sad to tell them that it is not possible at the moment. I have been feeling like the Italian movie “Life is Beautiful” (Benigni, 1997) where the father did a fantasy environment for his kid in a Nazi concentration camp; he did his best effort to turn the worst atmosphere into a fairy tale. Of course, our conditions are extremely better; we are at home, we are together, we are healthy and we trust that soon we will be hugging our beloved ones and hanging out with them.

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The day that the quarantine ends, we will recover our freedom to go out, we will return to our routines, but we will not forget the lesson we learned. We should not forget all the privileges we were given: we have fresh air to breath for free, we have the possibility to walk around, we can enjoy nature and listen to all the birds that surround and sing for us every day. Soon, we will have the opportunity to enjoy all this better. 

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We do not have a clear panorama about the economic effects of this pandemic, we are expecting negative numbers, and I know lots of families are worried about it. However, Mexican creativity and our talents will save us. We have to learn the lesson, now we are less privileged on the material things, but we are richer as humans and of course as teachers.

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