Sheltered Diaries: Social Media Gets Us Together, But Apart

“The wheels on the bus fell off today, off today, off today,
The wheels on the bus fell off today, so Mom hit the sauce.”

– Me, yesterday, 5 p.m.

When you are writing about the local response to a global pandemic, and you are teaching a third-grader, sometimes the day doesn’t go easily.

I definitely don’t want to leave anyone with the illusion that we’ve perfected the juggling act. We have not. Not by a long shot. And I’m firmly convinced that by the time we do figure it out, it’ll be time to go back to school and work.

But last night I commiserated with a friend who also happens to be an elementary school teacher that is now teaching her class remotely while also teaching her children at home now, too.

“Congratulations,” she said. “And welcome to teaching. We all have those days in the classroom. And the way I see it, the way we come back from it, and show our students that the next day is a brand new day with brand new opportunities, is also a subject we teach.”

So deep breaths, fellow reluctant teachers.

Today, I want to talk about social media, and how we can use that to not only get great ideas, but also keep abreast of anything your school district or school is doing. It’s also a terrific way to help your children see what’s going on at their school, too, since teachers and principals are using it a lot to share how they’re creating their online learning opportunities.

Here are a few from today:

Let us know how your distance-learning adventure is going by sharing in the comments, via the Preston Hollow or Park Cities Facebook pages, or through this link. Want to see previous diary entries? Click here.

Bethany Erickson

Bethany Erickson, former Digital Editor at People Newspapers, cut her teeth on community journalism, starting in Arkansas. She's taken home a few awards for her writing, including first place for her tornado coverage from the National Newspapers Association's 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, a Gold award for Best Series at the 2018 National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards, a 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Award for Editorial Opinion from the Dallas Press Club, and a 2019 award from NAREE for a piece linking Medicaid expansion with housing insecurity. She is a member of the Education Writers Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Real Estate Editors, the News Leaders Association, the News Product Alliance, and the Online News Association. She doesn't like lima beans, black licorice or the word synergy.

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