The Vacuum

One of the advantages of starting a new school year is that I have been so immersed in the moving and stapling and carrying and copying and assorted miscellaneous other preparations is that I have been all but cut off from the steady barrage of news. The ugliness and horrors of Charlottesville seem like a distant memory as I help get classrooms ready for children to return from their summer sojourn and the rhythm of Autumn replaces that wandering attention. The first day of school will be followed by the second and third. Updates to this progression will be noted as they become available.
But now my vacation starts. I will no longer be able to sit by and take in each new gaffe or disturbing statement. I will rely on others to distill them for my later consumption. A lot of this will be done by Fake News organizations, my only trusted point of reference. I will also keep world events in my mind to help our students navigate the quickly changing planet which will be left to them when we have finished doing our damage to it. There have been budget cuts that don't allows us to have access to certain programs or resources. We will continue to do the best we can with what we have, and making sure that we show up to do our best work no matter what the bookkeepers tell us. Or politicians.
I work for the Oakland Unified School District. We are a Sanctuary District, which means we are here to serve kids without checking their papers or asking them to put themselves or families in danger. The first thing they taught me in teacher school was that kids can't learn unless they feel safe, so that's what we're going to do. And we're going to try and make that learning fun. There will be plenty of time for all of us to be reminded just how awful things are everywhere else, but our school has brightly decorated bulletin boards and a devoted staff who will help every kid reach their potential.
And later, when I get home and catch my breath, I'll check out my news feed to read about the tragedy in Barcelona or the firing of Steve Bannon. Huge and important events, but it will take a while for their significance to trickle down to our third graders. In the meantime we've got to learn how to read. Once that's done, they'll be able to figure some of this out for themselves.
When they do, I hope they can explain it to me.