Week 2… I was thankful for Kuwait implementing a curfew in which we had to be home by 4pm. In the mornings, I would go to the office till 3, I did all my work and meetings at school then came home. At 4pm, I started to help my kids with their work. It was so much better for me as it gave us a routine and the kids adapted to it quickly. It went a lot better than week 1.
As for my staff and meetings, I could not do what I did during week 1 and that was being in every single meeting every single day with ALL the teams. As my principal said, “You will kill yourself before you know it.” She was correct! During week 1, I barely slept and could not fall asleep. So instead, we agreed for the Grade Level Leaders to invite us to one meeting weekly. I did the beginning of the week check-ins with each team and my principal did the end of the week check-ins with all the teams. This way they got the best of both worlds. They asked their questions to begin their week with me and they asked our principal their end of the week questions they had that came during the week.
Week 2 was still a roller coaster ride for me. Between our ministry of education changing things and us coming up with a new plan according to the new rules and regulations for virtual school. We always had to plan how we would tell our staff yet another new decision that had been made. This means that what we had previously planned, no longer applied. It was tough BUT we managed. Yes, many staff had a lot of questions and many felt frustrated and annoyed. But we listened to their concerns, we answered as best we could and then we moved forward. Being in front of the screen through tough times was even harder because we couldn’t really read our staff’s reaction nor knew how they really felt. We did know that when it was silent and no one spoke or had any questions that it wasn’t a good sign nor felt right. When we asked, “is everyone ok?” they would reply with a “yes” and we took it as they were digesting what we just told them.
The minute I felt some staff needing extra support during meetings, I would message them privately and ask if they were ok and if they wanted to talk without anyone around. Gladly they did and I would answer all their questions and assured them that we were in this together and that they were doing an amazing job. Once, I sensed they were truly ok, we would end our chat or call.
Week 3 to 8….