#virtualschool | Welcome To My World

Self Reflection

While working on schedules for Hybrid model for the upcoming new academic school year, I get a WhatsApp message from my principal asking “Would you mind doing a reflection for the bulletin this week?” Here I was a little bit confused and thought we had to write what we usually write and asked if that’s what she meant. Clearly I was wrong and she replied back with “ Not your usual. A reflection of your year. What did you enjoy about virtual school and what did you learn about yourself as a leader?” I quickly replied back with absolutely NOT and I got a thank you back. I lost all concentration on schedules and my mind started wondering about her two questions. I let it sink and thought about it a lot. I didn’t write anything down till the next day. I remember thinking about it before I fell asleep.

Next morning I got to the office and started typing away…

Continue reading “Self Reflection”

Virtual School- Week 3-8!

By week 3, I felt I had settled down into a routine with my work/meetings and my kids and their work. It was a bit easier I must admit. Week after week things got better and I was able to have some sort of an organized life. There were a few bumps here and there with new decisions from our Ministry of Education but we managed through. By then our teachers got used to the fact that things might change mid week and when we had a meeting they were expecting it.

Week 7 and 8 were the toughest. Tougher than week 1 and 2 for me. Teachers by then were exhausted, overwhelmed, tired and running on low energy and on very low patience. It was hard. They had to plan and re plan based on a new calendar change. Then they had to assess their students for grades for their report cards that they had to do two weeks later. That week of reporting was difficult, they had so many questions and needed a lot of clarification. It was their first time to assess students virtually which was hard to grasp. But they pulled through and did an amazing job!

Week 8 was dedicated to Virtual Student Led Conferences. As a mother doing both of my kids’ conferences, it felt like it was on another level. It was so emotional and surreal. We couldn’t wrap our heads around the fact that we were saying bye to each other and wishing each other a safe and healthy summer.

Virtual school has now ended. We were in a better place week 8 than week 1. Of course as we all know anything that you do for the first time is always bumpy and crazy. BUT our staff impressed us and we were so proud of all their hard work they put into their 8 weeks of teaching virtually.

Virtual School – Week 2!

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….

Virtual School- Week 1!

February 24th was the last day we saw our students. Had anyone told us our life would change over night we would have definitely planned something totally different. In Kuwait February 25th & 26th are two public holidays celebrating National and Liberation Day. February 24th all private schools celebrated this event. We planned big events and then students and staff went home at 12. That was the day we had our very first corona case… That was when everything changed.

We said bye to our students and staff as we had 5 days off. But who knew that was the last time we would all be on campus and saw each other. Had we known that we wouldn’t have been returning I promise you we would have planned something different.

Next thing you know, we were informed that schools were going to be closed for 4 weeks. Hello Virtual School. Luckily we were semi prepared for this as we practiced Virtual learning through Seesaw in January. Were we fully prepared? Of course not! Were we mentally ready? Definitely not! BUT as a team we pulled through.

The first two weeks of Virtual School were overwhelming, exhausting and insane. That is how I described my first two weeks as an AP point of view and mother with two young children. The first week we were booked into virtual meetings from 8am till maybe 2pm-3pm. The amount of screen time increased and that caused me to get very little sleep and I was sitting down most of the day. There were a lot of new things that we had to get used to. Between my husband being home, him needing his own work space, to my kids having virtual school and then also needing my help, (especially my 1st grader son), to my meetings with admin or teachers… It was a roller coaster ride and trial and error for my family till we got the hang of things.

I would finish my meetings then sit with my kids and help them with their assignments. By that time I was mentally drained and had zero patience for my kids but I had to sit with my son and teach him.

Week 2…