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Express Your Interest

Here is a picture of me in my office at home (“office” is a euphemism – I have about 4 sq metres of space on the stairs landing).

Here are the 10 things I have learned since RMS’ Learning From Home started:

  1. The entire community has been on a very steep learning curve. We are all in this together.
  2. It says “amazing children, amazing teachers” on the side of the school bus – and that is really true. Staff and children alike have worked together to make the best of this unusual situation. The EAs have all taken on new roles – getting the library set up, repairing equipment, making materials etc – to ensure that all the fiddly jobs get done. I feel so lucky to work within this beautiful school.
  3. We need to add “amazing families” to the bus. Parents and caregivers have been wonderful.
  4. We also need to add “amazing admin”. The people in the office have worked tirelessly and with great compassion behind the scenes to make sure everyone has what they need.
  5. (I am running out of bus room, almost). “Amazing principal” should be there as well. Vanessa has been steady and proactive in her approach to this situation. RMS is very lucky to have such a visionary leader.
  6. We all need to be kind and patient and considerate to ourselves and others. It is not the same as being at school, in the classroom but it is what we have to do right now: this too shall pass.
  7. There is such a thing as too much: too many resources, too many good ideas, too much information. When every organisation is doing its best to provide support for online learning / learning at home / school of the web, it is worth remembering that information overload is real. Families already finding it a challenge to navigate the move to learning at home are going to get try-this-fatigue really quickly. Staff who want to do their best are going to burn out if they dive into every new thing with the same heightened level of enthusiasm. This is a marathon, not a sprint. It is ok to be choosy and to rely on what we know.  It is OK to take a step back and try a more gentle pace.
  8. I now know what my dogs do all day. Nothing. Occasionally, they move couches but mostly it’s nothing.
  9. It’s time to back to first principles and primary sources. The English translation on The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in the Children’s Houses is on my holiday reading list (so is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – just for a change).
  10. I am looking forward to the break. It has been a massive term

Jodi Kerslake – Primary School Coordinator and Dugongs Teacher