Hi! Welcome to Kindergarten! I’m going to be your teacher, Miss Litten. I know you can’t see me because I’m wearing this mask with a shield over my face. Oh, no, hunny. It’s ok. I’m not scary. I’m smiling at you underneath all of this. Come hold my hand… ummm…nevermind. Let me give you a hug…errr…Let’s take a look at all the toys we will play with this year. Bummer, that’s right. Nevermind. We can’t share toys this year. But hey, you’re going to meet so many new friends in Kindergarten! You’ll get to play with them and everything!! Well, not play with play with. I mean like you’re six feet apart and you’re each bouncing your own ball. That’s fun, right? Well, anyways, here’s our library. We can’t have books on the shelves. You can’t touch the same books as your classmates because of those silly little germs! So, instead, I’ll give you these black and white paper books that I stapled together and put in your very own cardboard box! You can take it to your seat aaaaalllllllll the way over here. I’ll be aaaalllllll the way over there if you need me. Oh, what’s that? Your shoe is untied. Let me tie it for…did you just have that shoe lace in your mouth? Sweetie, I can’t tie it now because it has those pesky germs on it. Just tuck them in your shoes. Ok. Now let me see if you can write your name. That’s not how you hold your pencil, Kiddo! Here, let me show you. I’ll put my hand over your hand and guide you…oh, I mean, let me just show you how to hold it. Put your pointer finger…no that’s not pointer…oh, shucks. Nevermind. We will be using computers most of the time anyways, who needs to learn pencil grip?! Here’s your computer 💻. Isn’t it so neat and shiny?! I know it looks like everybody else’s but I also know that as a five year old you can keep track of yours and bring it to and from school everyday. We need computers this year because we might not be at school very long. If too many people get sick, I may not see you for a long time. But, I’ll email you and we can learn from our computers. What’s that? You want to learn how to read? We will try the best we can, Kiddo! Why are you crying? You’re hot with that mask on? Me too. No, Sweetie, we don’t have air conditioning at school. Water? We can’t use that water fountain anymore, Dear. Here’s a water bottle to fill up. You’re tired? I know, me too! Welcome to Kindergarten in 2020!
•••I had to capture my thoughts of what’s to come and the REALITY of it. No matter what schools choose to do, or what parents choose to do, I feel terrible for all students having to endure the school year ahead! I know I’ll try my very best no matter what, Kiddos!
Vía Millie Litten
Covid Teacher 