December 14th 2020
The year that was….
As I left the picturesque country pub where I had eaten with my parents; little did I expect that the end of February would be the last time I would be able to have a ‘normal’ face to face experience with them for the remainder of the year. This and many other situations would not be the same for the remainder of 2020 and the phrase ‘new normal’ was coined. Without doubt, 2020 has been eventful with a lot of chat about what we couldn’t do as opposed to perhaps being thankful or positive about some of the experiences we have had. 2020 will leave me with some very positive memories and things to be thankful for.
Firstly, what could you possibly remember about Virtual School that was positive? I would start by highlighting the way that many boys I taught produced work of such wonderful creativity. It was as if working from home opened their mind for interesting and exciting options to create their work. I will never forget Freddy C’s video of him pretending to be a wind turbine! The other main positive about virtual school would be the way it brought my form at the time together in the face of a difficult situation. I will very fondly remember 7W of 2019/20 for the way in which they bonded through the experience. Some memories of that time:
- Matthew M and his chocolate roulade
- Turning on various Alexas in people’s houses over Google Meets
- Max and Sean having a socially distanced rugby passing session live on Google Meet
The many quizzes will provide me with some wonderful memories of friends bonding together with weird and wacky quiz rounds that livened up mundane nights during lockdown. Whether it was an event like a Leicester themed sports round (that was only half about Leicester as the writer ran out of questions!!) or an ex-Moulsford family recreating famous movie moments around their house; I leave the quiz-fuelled year of 2020 with some hilarious highlights.
From a personal point of view, I will certainly leave 2020 feeling like I can take on more challenges. I have explored footpaths I never knew existed, run further than I have ever done before and adapted quickly to teaching challenges that were unprecedented. I could have walked less, given up running and moaned that I didn’t understand technology but decided that looking forward to things as opportunities rather than threats was a lot more fulfilling.
In life, it is perhaps all too easy to focus on what went wrong or the negative aspects of challenges that faced us. However, if we stop and take time to think then there is usually a positive to be found whether it is something fun or simply something kind that you have done for someone else. Even on the bad days, it is amazing what something like a pack of Wine Gums could do for morale! A friend of mine has started a hashtag on twitter called #kindnessripple where people share and celebrate people who have been kind in their lives. I suppose my challenge for 2021 is possibly to develop our own hashtag of #searchforthepositive for even when the wifi goes down for the third time on a Google Meet there is always something we can take from it!
