Leaving the Pandemic Tunnel

I remember traveling across the country with my young family and the buzz of excitement when we approached a mountain tunnel. "Honk your horn ... honk your horn!" my kids would scream from the back seat. In later years, we would all try to hold our breath through the entire tunnel. The most impressive mountain tunnel that I've experienced is Colorado's Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel, a 1.6 mile engineering feat passing directly under the Continental Divide at 11,000 feet altitude ... don't try to hold your breath through this one, especially if you are driving!  

While many tunnels (like the Eisenhower) are safely lit with sufficiently wide lanes, some are dark and dangerous with oncoming traffic; regardless of the tunnel, you are wise to slow down, stay in your lane, and keep your hands securely on the steering wheel until you exit the tunnel. 

As we seek to describe what the COVID-19 pandemic felt like for educators, I keep coming back to this image shared by a teacher at my school. "The pandemic felt like a long, dark tunnel ... that we are finally exiting." How true!

The Pandemic was a Long, Dark Tunnel

I remember starting the school year 2019-2020 with excitement, ready to tackle new initiatives ... an open road with so many paths available to us. Then, in March 2020, we entered the Pandemic Tunnel. This was a brand new tunnel that nobody had traveled before. Initially, most thought that this was going to be a short one ... two weeks to "flatten the curve" and then a month. Like driving through a dark tunnel, schools slowed down, stayed in their lane, and just held on tight to the steering wheel. Unfortunately, this tunnel was longer than anyone anticipated, and most schools stayed the course.  Growth initiatives were tabled (or outright dropped) as administrators diverted funds to air purification systems, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, and educational technology to pivot over to remote learning. 

National, state, and local health officials were excavating the tunnel just ahead of the schools, often blindly selecting pickaxes or dynamite to break through this dark mountain. And then it happened ... late in 2021, those tunneling seemed to find the right path, and we began to see a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. For educators, the Spring of 2022 felt like we were exiting a dark tunnel, our eyes hurting from the bright light, causing us to stumble some to find our way, collectively taking a deep breath, and cautiously proceeding not sure what we will find as we leave the tunnel.

Yes, indeed, the COVID-19 Pandemic was like a dark tunnel that we are thankfully leaving behind us.  

Now what?

As cars leave a tunnel, they pick up speed, change lanes, take different routes, and are able to reach their individual destinations. It may be obvious, but cars leaving a tunnel must first know their destination before they change lanes or pick up speed. This is the same for schools ... they must have a strong understanding of their destination in order to pick up speed, change lanes, or take the correct roads leaving the pandemic.

Lead out of the Pandemic

Schools that will thrive in the next five years are ones that lead out of the pandemic. Hopefully, in the midst of managing learning in a pandemic, school leaders have been keeping their eye on their purpose, their destination. This is the time to revisit and re-envision the strategic plan (that many schools shelved in 2020), mission/vision statements, and your purpose. If school leaders have not been thinking post-pandemic, they will not lead out of the pandemic; they will need to regroup and take time to assess initiatives and write a roadmap to their destination. Leaving the pandemic tunnel is the time to accelerate and take advantage of the "open road" of education after the pandemic ... but only if you know your destination!

Likewise, teachers that will thrive coming out of the pandemic are ones that reconnect with their "why" (i.e., their professional purpose or destination). I hope that educators spent this summer recharging after a long couple years in the pandemic, but I hope that they spent even more time reflecting and re-affirming their "why." Why did you become a teacher? What is your professional purpose? 

If you haven't spent time on your "why" this summer, you still have time ... re-read one of those books that first got you excited about teaching (or discover a new one!).  Here are a few ...

• Courage to Teach (P. Palmer)
• Educating for Life (N. Wolterstorff) 
• Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire (R. Esquith)
• The First Days of School (H. Wong & R. Wong)
• What Teachers Make (T. Mali)
• Teaching Redemptively (D. Graham)
• Teaching from the Heart (S. Draper)
• Teach Like a Pirate (D. Burgess)
• Flourishing Together (L. Swaner & A. Wolfe)

I bet you have one of those books on your shelf ... get reading!

Why? (a quick answer)

Our students need you to embody the teacher you were when you started ... caring, supportive, energetic, genuine, and present. Students traveled through the Pandemic Tunnel too, and this was traumatic for them. Many do not remember pre-pandemic school ... they are still stumbling out on the other side of the tunnel, unsure what post-pandemic learning looks like.  

Show them!  Remind yourself first and then show them.

Have a great year!