69ý

Special Report
Student Well-Being Opinion

‘It Is OK to Grieve': A Teacher Reflects on This Pandemic Year

A teacher confronts the dark days of the pandemic with her students
By Claire Marie Grogan — March 31, 2021 3 min read
Teacher and student a world apart
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Twenty years ago, I was a newly minted English teacher at Oceanside High School in Long Island, N.Y. A few days into the start of my teaching career, two planes flew into the Twin Towers, and my students formed lines by the guidance department so they could check on their parents who were working in Manhattan. During the Great Recession, my students wrote about their families’ foreclosed homes. When our town—a former seaport—was underwater, literally darkened by the chaos of Hurricane Sandy, we charged our phones in the classroom and did our laundry using the home economics department’s washer and dryer. The Sandy Hook massacre gave way to active-shooter drills. The 2016 divisive presidential election resulted in professional development for challenging classroom conversations. And when our school community lost three innocent souls to murder, suicide, and accident in one school year, we launched a series of mental-health programs for our students.

So, when the COVID-19 crisis shuttered our school buildings last March, we jumped into action much as we had before. Every student received a Chromebook and access to Wi-Fi, and our mental-health staff was primed and ready. It seemed our community, once again, had the resources and the staff to rise to the challenge. It was going to be OK.

Cut to the first day of school last fall. The September ritual once so familiar was now simply foreign as the school year began with a hybrid model. Wander down our eerily empty halls and into my classroom. You will find us, six feet apart, windows wide open as the Mid-Atlantic weather gusts in. Plastic barriers separate my desk from my students’. Wearing masks—our smiles hidden and our words muffled—we wave as if in a pantomime show to express ourselves. The Google Meet is projected on the smartboard, where we see the other half of the class—the fully remote students and those who will rotate in later that week. Some point their cameras to the ceiling, while others hide behind an icon. I call out to them: “Hello! Can I see your face? How’s it going today?” Some turn on their cameras and give a thumbs-up; others turn on their mics and say hello.

The challenge of COVID-19, unlike the other crises over the last 20 years, would be its endlessness.

By mid-October, just a few weeks later, the emails start coming. “Dear Ms. Grogan, I feel I owe you an explanation. It has just been so hard to concentrate.” “I’m emailing you on behalf of my daughter, who has recently been experiencing panic attacks.”

“Please be informed that your student is out for bereavement.” From a distance, hidden behind screens and masks, they appeared OK, upbeat even. But they weren’t. Most of my students were struggling. The ubiquitous stress of a pandemic, coupled with the demands of an entirely unfamiliar learning environment, was more than they could manage.

My students were spiraling into apathy with a sixth sense that this learning arrangement, which rationally seemed to be a solid approach to educating in a pandemic, would irrevocably change their perspective about their future. The challenge of COVID-19, unlike the other crises over the last 20 years, would be its endlessness.

See Also

Silhouette of group of students with data overlay.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Student Well-Being Opinion What Life Was Like for 69ý in the Pandemic Year
March 31, 2021
7 min read

The small but daily rituals my students have had to abandon, like lingering at lockers or sharing a slice of pizza or the natural impulse to hug a friend or belly laugh with our mouths wide open, have left us all with an inexplicable sense of loss that is hard to accept. But we keep at it. For my part, I have tossed due dates aside, made writing assignments an opportunity for personal reflection, and overhauled the curriculum. And tried to comfort them anyway that I can.

In spite of the haze, I hope they learn to value the power of literature, the stories of humanity prevailing in the face of injustice, evil, and disaster—which teaches us that we can understand ourselves and others better through storytelling. But as spring approaches, Advanced Placement exams, college applications, and state tests cast long shadows on our confusing days. The ebullience of teenagers at the first hint of warmth has been replaced with kids who seem smaller, fragile, and withdrawn. I do not know how they will fare after this second lost spring.

They are grieving, as am I. We are in desperate need of someone to tell us it is all right if you cannot operate as your prepandemic self. Let us, as educators, be the voice that tells our children, I see you and I hear you. And it is OK to grieve. What is an education for, if not to show students what it means to be human?

Related Tags:

Coverage of social and emotional learning is supported in part by a grant from the NoVo Foundation, at . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.
A version of this article appeared in the March 31, 2021 edition of Education Week as ‘It Is OK to Grieve’

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Student Well-Being Opinion 3 Things You Need to Know About Absenteeism
We studied the data from more than 1.5 million students. Here’s are some overlooked insights to boost attendance.
Todd Rogers, Emily Bailard & Mikia Manley
4 min read
Scattered school desks seen from above, some with red x's on them signifying absences.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and iStock/Getty Images
Student Well-Being SEL Has Become Politicized. 69ý Are Embracing It Anyway
Eighty-three percent of principals report that their schools use an SEL curriculum or program.
5 min read
Image of positive movement when attending to a student's well-being is a component.
Dmitrii_Guzhanin/iStock/Getty and Laura Baker/Education Week
Student Well-Being 69ý Don't Want to Talk About Politics, Either
The election is occurring at a time when many schools are discouraged from having tough conversations in class.
6 min read
Viewers gather to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio.
Viewers gather to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. Researchers say students are more reluctant to talk politics this election cycle.
Eric Gay/AP
Student Well-Being Opinion Can Athletic Coaches Help 69ý Learn More in the Classroom?
School sports can provide an opportunity for mentorship.
8 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty