I frequently wrote in mirror images. I didn’t do it to be defiant. In fact, I have no memory of it being a conscious act at all. It’s simply the way my brain works. I set the words down on paper as instructed, but when my dad checked my homework at night it often made him apoplectic.

The evidence my eyes saw did not at all match the rhetoric of the government. Immediately, I thought of Orwell’s well known quote from 1984, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” I was not the only one. Within hours, the quote was trending on social media. My second thought was, “Damn, I’m teaching the wrong novel.” 

Undoubtedly, many of the issues regarding student performance and capability can be traced to COVID. This, however, is not the same as faulting COVID, which is what society tends to do.

I hate that this question has even entered my thought process, but is it possible that I’ve asked too much of them?

I stepped away from my original lesson plan and invited my students into my very messy, confused, neurodivergent brain. I may have multiple graduate degrees, a book to my name, and an unquenchable desire to read, but that doesn’t mean reading is easy. I still struggle.

Dear Dad, Being a teacher is hard. The actual teaching isn’t, but everything else is. Sometimes, I wonder if I’d find it less taxing,...