Going Back to School!
We feel we need to congratulate each and every teacher out there for amazing job we all did during last period. We were all faced with a situation none of us was prepared for and had to exchange classrooms for laptops in order to become online teachers overnight. Distance learning, video conferencing, using social media as teaching tools, incorporating online learning platforms into our lesson plans… The transition did not go smoothly for some. The most important thing is – we succeeded.
As we are continuously witnessing the improvement of situation regarding COVID-19, we are slowly preparing to going back to normal. But let’s stop for a second and ask ourselves what “normal” means today. Is it some “new normal” that we have to get used to? Croatia’s Civil Protection Directorate has issued guidelines we all need to follow in order to keep our country coronavirus-free.
Our classrooms have been rearranged, benches and chairs have been moved, we have been using tape measure in order to make sure our students are sitting 1.5 metres away from each other. We are strictly following every single measure, monitoring and responding to the situation as it evolves. We are taking every appropriate step to look after everyone’s health and safety.
All benches will be disinfected after being used, all students will have to disinfect their hands before and after leaving lessons, and they should keep distance between each other on their way to the classroom and from the classrooms. They don’t have to wear masks, unless they want to.
Although it is going to take time to get used to this as well, we are wondering if this is going to be possible to maintain throughout the remaining part of this school year. What is the situation like in your country? Do you think social distancing is actually going to work among school kids?