Teaching in the Time of Pandemic

It's been 15 months since I lived in school.

No, I'm not homeless.

When pandemic hit, we were given the option to work from home to stay in school. At that time, most of my friends were staying in, so I decided to also do the same.

The school became our home. We turned the auditorium into sleeping quarters, some of us learned how to cook, we did movie nights, and sometimes work till 12 midnight. It was apparent that the lines between work and personal live has been blurry, but it was all fun nevertheless.

There are moments where we miss the life in the school buildings. When physical classes were held, 3PM was all noise and chaos as the kid run around to play soccer. Now, it's just silence. Sometimes, the pouring rain makes the sound better. But it looks pensieve still.

However, in this place lies friendship.

On weekdays, we wake up and take showers. Cook. Opened our laptops. Do classes. Submit deliverables. Eat meals. Ocassionaly, we play games - child's play, board games, sports, video games. On weekends, we watch movies, go out for a walk, and buy groceries.

My friend Marvin (which I'm desperately trying to bring in HIve) and I decided to encapsulate this into a song, called Virtual Frames. It's about how a simple "Hi, sir" could change the day of one teacher.

As we celebrate Teacher's Day today, I am grateful for this community of teachers that made my pandemic days worthwhile. These were some of my sweetest memories, and everytime I remember that school year, my heart aches for nostalgia.

As I move forward for the days to come, staying in school for most days, I shall remember the gratitude I have for these fellow teachers, and the students I had that all made it a joy.

TEACHING