"Normal" Start to the Year

 I really wanted to document the start of our year as again it has started off a little bit differently than we would have expected! I was so excited for the start of this year, I think in a way it signified the normalisation of covid and our new reality and that school can go on in person rather than having this back and forth of lock down and hybrid learning. I guess in a way I was looking forward to that "normal" start to the year. Unfortunately that didn't go according to plan, we started a week later than expected due to the devastating floods that occurred in Auckland. Thankfully we were blessed enough to miss this directly however this has impacted many people on our lives and communities. I think as teachers we are very used to this sudden change and try and adapt accordingly.

Week Two?
Finally day one arrived and it was very happy environment and I was all set to get everything up and running as I normally do at the beginning of the year. Week two now became week one again and we were all set up ready to go, reading lessons and expectations set up and directions for my inquiry starting to take shape. We have a weather warning about the following week but treating it as business as usual for our new week 2. Unfortunately again a devastating weather event meant the closure of school and again another interesting week. No school on Monday, Tuesday we were open (We only had 12 students in my space of 54!). Wednesday trying to find that some sort of normal again! 

The last few years have taught me many things about myself and my students and that is we are adaptable. Very much like this inquiry it is adaptable! I think about this as we get ready for our first CoL PLG for the year, that guilt of not having an inquiry set in stone but then the realisation that we are adaptable, my inquiry is adaptable and most importantly my inquiry is about my learners. My learners and what they are going through will have an impact on my inquiry and the shape that it takes. So I take a step back to reflect on the start of the year that we have had and realise that it will come to me eventually, the most important thing at the moment is a happy, resilient classroom set up on the foundation of kindness and support is the best thing to start with.