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We've Got This?

Adam Johnston, physics professor and science education advocate

responds to Ali Miller, Weber alumna, employee and now a COVID-19 homeschooler  

April 6th, 2020 

Dear Weber Science family,
     March 16th, 2020 brings an audible and exhausting groan now, but that morning I was optimistically clueless. I had spent the weekend preparing for each child to have a dedicated space in our home to finish out their 1st grade, freshman and junior third terms. The thought that I’d be home with the family for the next two weeks (one of which was Spring Break) was a sugar-coated pill to swallow. I was prepared and confidently said, “I’ve got this!” 
 
     “I’ve got this!” is now the phrase I force myself to say every morning, afternoon and evening. Let’s be honest, I am saying it before every little task during the day. I really don’t know that “I got this,” especially because “this” has changed and keeps changing every day, if not two or three times a day. So now what? I am NOT a science school teacher. 
 
     Let me be clear, I AM a Mom! I believe in the power, potential, and responsibility of that title. I also find hope in the fact that I am a Wildcat graduate. But even though Environmental Appreciation, a GE class I took from Dr. Bozniak, was one of my favorites so long ago, I don’t know that I can support this new level of learning at home, not alone. I mean, I’m old, I still carry the one when it comes to basic math and I know that I am not the best at teaching why matter… matters.
 
     Also, I know my personal limits and the skills and resources to be an elementary or secondary academic teacher are not in my wheelhouse. I actually learned this the same way many people who are considering what they want to be, learn it… student teaching! Yep, I recognized this world would be a much better place by me finding a different path that didn’t include class management of thirty plus children. God bless you all!!
 
     Finally, full disclosure, I am married to a teacher. At one point I thought: this gives my family the leg up. But I quickly realized that he was in a whole new profession having to learn how to effectively and successfully teach Spanish online to his sweet students. He now spends his time exploring the best ways to support his students and their parents in this new way of learning, a way none of us choose and is not the best for some. 
 
     So, now what, what can a family do to get quality educational learning through April and maybe longer? Where can parents, students and teachers turn? 
Cheers, Ali and family

Ali prompted me to think about how we can provide resources and help for families and teachers, and I’m always eager to help -- feel free to email me at ajohnston@weber.edu and/or visit the website noted below. At the same time, I want to acknowledge that it’s easy for us all to ask too much of ourselves right now. For all of our ambition and expertise, technology and tools, we can’t possibly operate normally. I invite everyone to embrace abnormality for the time being.

Teaching and learning are not really about information so much as they are about building and weaving relationships. When there are ways to maintain those to help us as students, teachers, and parents, so much the better. But we can only expect so much online and at home. How I work with students in my classes and labs is unique and specialized. The loss of real, personal interactions with people, face-to-face, can’t be genuinely replaced in other settings, as useful as those may be. Communities are forged over centuries, solidifying our towns, our families, and our schools. We can’t expect to find a set of relationships that suddenly work just as well as what’s been in place; and I can’t possibly be at my best because I don’t have all of the community relationships meshing together right now. We’ve thrown sand into the gears. 

-Grace navigates online coursework
with the “help” of her cat, Gus-

So don’t worry about being your best. Instead, take care of yourselves, do what you can with online instruction and what you’ll have for dinner and holding each other because, frankly, it’s not all that easy to function or even sleep right now. But maybe there’s something to laugh about; when you find that, embrace it and live that moment. Maybe go for a walk outside and watch for emerging honeybees and new buds on trees and maybe (in the midst of this silly season we call “spring”) some blue skies. My daughter, Grace, and I were fascinated by ants as the colony magically fountained up from a narrow crack in the sidewalk yesterday; just a few minutes ago I saw wild turkeys parading along neighbors’ front yards; and I can see the sun set a little more north of west each evening. There’s joy and something to learn in these moments. Maybe we’ll all experience or learn something new, online or otherwise, and I’m excited for a chance to share that sometime soon. But, in this moment, deep breaths and minor tasks feel like great accomplishments. And for now, that’s okay. 

 

A Compiled List of Online Science Education Resources for Whenever!

 

 

 


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