Day Two: The Week the World Went Home
One writer’s reflections of the days before COVID interrupted my life.
Happy birthday, Dianne. My childhood friend turned 62 on March 2, 2020.
We met in Miss Lawrence’s second grade class.
I remember sitting at a square table made of four desks. I remember across from me Bill B. and Brian B. Brian’s dad owned the funeral home that we could see from our second-grade classroom.
I remember thinking how easy it must be for Brian to go to school. His mum probably watched him go to school each morning. Maybe she walked with him. Maybe not. It was a different time in 1966. No milk carton lost kids. Less traffic.
Brian once told a story of playing hide and seek in the basement of their home, running around with his older brothers and hiding amongst the caskets.
On Monday, March 2, 2020, I met with my classes at UMass Lowell. My classroom met in the newly refurbished basement of Perry Hall.
It’s a narrow classroom crammed with twenty desks. The podium at the front of the room tucked into a corner near the wall of windows. The windows shelf at about chest high.
From the window, we looked out at ankles and knees of passersbies. A few of other lower levels of four surrounding buildings — all yellow brick (are they yellow brick? Or is that just a memory?), sidewalks, and not much else.
There are four rows of five desks each.
It’s funny how students self-select their seats the first day of class. Inevitably, they keep those seats throughout the semester.
From my perspective, I see the dynamism of the changing classes. Innocent, Tonya, and Stephanie on the left in the 12:00 class, but Brianna sits there in the 1:00 class. Liz and Shivana sit at the back of the class. They’re very chatty — which I like. Ava, Jonathan, another Jonathan, and Gifty sit in the right-hand row.
This class is one of my favorites because many of these students continued with me from the fall.
We have history. We know each other. We have expectations.
We share memories.
We share hopes and dreams.
Three consecutive classes. All College Writing2. All working on research projects.
Could I teach them to love the search for information as I did?
Could I share some tactics and help them build some skills?
On Monday, March 2, 2020, the weather in Boston was 40 F and showery.
I see these classes at UMass Lowell three times each week. Two more classes until our spring break.
On Monday, March 2, 2020, I received the following email from a student:
Hi Professor Stockwell,
Can you put the Educator Interview essay rubric on Blackboard for re-writing help (or point me to it if I’m just not seeing it)? I don’t have my paper copy anymore and don’t know the weights/total scores for the scoring categories.
Thanks,
(CWII MWF @ 12)
I replied:
The rubric is included with your paper attached here.
I don’t have a rubric that would include the various levels of success- like the one that I handed out today for the FYSP Value Criteria. (Page 3 of the Notable Person Letter assignment sheet.)
I will include the PDF here of the basic rubric. But feel free to communicate with me if you want further clarification.
They replied:
Thanks, that’s exactly what I was looking for. The paper includes my scores but not what the total for each category is, so I was confused adding them up.
I answered:
Okay good!
Glad that I could help.
We can discuss further in class on Wednesday if you need more help.
No one knew what would unfold over the next weeks and months.
No one.
Just last week, I got a package in my mailbox addressed to my second grade teacher, Miss Lawrence. She’s doing well, thanks for asking. Still lives in the same house where she grew up. And so do I.
It’s been a few years since I’ve seen Dianne, my second grade best friend, in person, but we stay in touch on Facebook.
I sent her a birthday greeting first thing this morning.
