You Can't Do That on Zoom

On Wednesday, October 27, the 10th Rowland Foundation Conference was held at the University of Vermont. The keynote speaker this year was Carla Shalaby from the University of Michigan School of Education. Dr. Shalaby's presentation title was "Love and Learning Freedom: Practicing Community in the Classroom." She was engaging, provocative, thoughtful, and challenging. I had tears in my eyes as her presentation ended. 

Her work gave me pause as I reflected on all the issues of compliance that we emphasize in schools. In a push for more freedom in our buildings, not a free-for-all, Dr. Shalaby offered that we need to care more about the people in our classrooms, not just the curriculum. We must make every attempt to find humanness in our classrooms, that is visible to all eyes that are watching us. My favorite quote of the keynote, the one that caused the most contemplation, was this: 

The students that are the most non-compliant can teach us the most. Their sufferings and screams are a warning to the rest of us. It's something we cannot see unless we look through their eyes. 

It feels like now, a lot of our students are asking us to look through their eyes. A lot of our students are giving us warnings, some subtle, some not-so-subtle. A lot of our students, and our adults, are hurting under the weight of expectations of schools during this pandemic. We exist in education to serve our students, and we need to give our adults everything they need to be their best professional selves. 

Perhaps though, just as important to me was the chance to see people again in person. In-person. There were hugs, handshakes, and high-fives. There were long embraces, deep conversations, and meaningful exchanges. We sat on the floor, stood and talked, worked together at tables. We were in person. 

I met people at this conference that I've only interacted with on Twitter for the first time, which is not just social media for celebrities. As Mike Martin, the Executive Director of the Rowland Foundation, told me years ago when we were serving together as colleagues: "Twitter is a way for us to connect with others based on the merit of the ideas." So many people I've learned from and with right here in Vermont, I've never met before. I talked to them that day at the conference. We were in person. 

And high praise to UVM. They got it right. We were all required to show proof of vaccination and to wear masks the entire time. And that did not take away one iota of the joy that I felt and observed at the Davis Center. I was not the only one hugging. I was not the only one shaking hands. I was not the only one giving high-fives. There was no Rowland Conference last year, and rightfully so. But we all missed it, and we made up for the lost time in whatever way we could. 

Lori Lisai picked up on this during the day with the following tweet: 

It was a fantastic day for intense reflection and deep discomfort from Dr. Shalaby's keynote, bringing our awareness to systems that are not serving our students. And it would have been easy to lose ourselves in that work, were it not for the fact that we were in person with others throughout the state of Vermont, committed to disrupting these systems with us. We are better together. 

We've made it work since March of 2020, cobbled together through electronic means, platforms, and networks. We've learned from afar, worked from afar, and connected from afar. The patchwork of relationships without being in person was the best that we could do given the circumstances. 

But there is absolutely nothing in the world that can replicate or replace a hug. Nothing. 

Photo Courtesy of @RowFn (Lori Lisai)