As I see all the 9/11 memorials today, I can’t believe it has been 19 years. I’ll never forget my confusion and disbelief when another teacher entered my ESL classroom on that day and whispered in my ear, “A plane just crashed into the twin towers.” I remember first thinking, “Twin Towers?” but quickly recalled the bomb threat that made the news years earlier, and the twin towers suddenly became clear in my mind’s eye. I was picturing a small privately owned plane at that announcement, somehow the result of some terrible accident, crashing into the tower. Once my class ended, I was able to go to our school library, where the librarian had a TV set up, and I watched with horror as the correct vision took the place of what I’d incorrectly pictured. This horrific image remains the picture that my brain pulls up whenever 9/11 is mentioned.
I also recall the days following 9/11 when we returned to school. I can’t recall what I taught, but I do recall conversations with students. I recall conversations we had about whether we’d ever really feel safe again in our country. I recall that school gave these students the place to voice fears, concerns, reflections, and hopes for the future.
This also brings up a memory from my first year as a teacher. Christa McAuliffe, a high school science teacher, was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it broke apart minutes into its flight killing all crew members. McAuliffe would have been the first teacher in space, so many classrooms were watching the lift-off live, and many students witnessed the explosion in real time. Again, I don’t recall what I was teaching my 8th grade Language Arts students that day, but I do remember the conversations we had through out the remainder of the day. So many students just needed to process what they had witnessed, to be allowed to talk about the tragedy. So, that’s what this first year teacher allowed to happen.
I’m thinking now about all the teachers in the classroom today. For my local school district, they are completing week one of both face to face and remote learning. (Yes, happening at the same time). I’m thinking about the students sitting in these classrooms as well as the ones staring into computer screens at home. I hope these teachers realize that years from now, the memories won’t be about how well the lessons went. The memories are going to be about how the teacher made navigating this new way of school a positive experience for them.
Maya Angelou’s famous quote, “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel” comes to mind. I have no doubt that teachers this week created the environment to allow all the right “feels”for their students. In the long run, that’s what really matters.
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