School Closure Just Announced

Enjoying a Georgian dumpling not knowing that my life was about to be turned upside down.

My wife and I were in the county of Georgia enjoying our spring break when she got the text message saying that the government has just announced that all schools, public and private will be closing in a few days and will remain closed for 4 weeks as they evaluate the best ways to keep our students safe due to the COVID-19 virus.

We work at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi in the UAE and immediately my wife, who is the superintendent started to book a return flight, at the same time she was coordinating with her senior administration team and the school board on how to best take care of both the students and staff. 

We found out at 10:30 PM and by the next night she was gone and I was on my own in Georgia. I teach middle school technology and my mind was racing with a lot of questions with regards to my students, and there was even the thought of if I would be allowed back in the UAE in a few days.

Most of my tech curriculum already lives online, but I knew there were a lot of changes that should and could be made. So there I was alone in my hotel lobby, making the to-do list as to how to best be a middle school tech teacher with my students as remote learners.

I haven't blogged for years, but I thought I should start again, at least for the next four weeks so that my experiences might help anyone else that might go through this too. Together we are always stronger and sharing is what education is all about. My online tech lessons can be found at  www.mytechttoos.com