Blessings in Disguise

"The most important principle for designing lively eLearning is to see eLearning design not as information design but as designing an experience."

- Cathy Moore

When the "Safer at Home" order was announced way back March 12, 2020 I had mixed emotions. That week, my doctor advised me to rest to prepare for my March 19, 2020 surgery, and I just filed my medical leave. A part of me felt sad because this meant I will be physically away from my students and amazing colleagues for a long time. But a part of me became excited since this meant I could design a new learning experience for my students during my time away.

My surgery got postponed and I decided not to be on medical leave since I could still teach virtually. That weekend, I created individual websites for each of my resource kids. Two weeks passed and a 2-week Spring Break followed. We were asked by our principal to reflect on our experiences and strategies implemented on the first two weeks of distance teaching.

I realized that the "new normal" of teaching proved to be more challenging for resource Specialists/ Special Education teachers and our clients. We teachers needed to learn how to be healthy (physically, emotionally, and mentally) while learning a wide variety of technological learning tools. For me, it was mastering the ones that were adopted by my school.

Back then, I served students from Kindergarten to 7th grade. I taught myself to navigate "Seesaw" for my K to 3rd graders. I also learned to navigate Google Classroom/ Google Meet for my 6th and 7th graders. Google Slides and Google Forms became my new favorites! I then moved to other interesting digital resources. I discovered and used Zoom meetings --- I learned how to share screen and use the "whiteboard" (my fave!) and to use virtual backgrounds.

As much as learning new tools is fun and useful, the "new normal" had setbacks. We teachers in Special Education especially, understand fully that each child/ student has their unique needs, and our vocation asks of us to provide support for our students who have very varied requirements to learn. Most of my students thrive in one-to-one direct instruction with redirection and school day structure. They have attention and behavior deficits that made virtual learning difficult for them.

Designing the schedule also proved to be challenging. I must work around the parents' preferences, and other support providers' schedules. I also suddenly became a "digital coach" --- assisting parents, students, and service providers on how to access the digital instructional content.

But we were able to survive! Those tools I learned during the Pandemic proved to be handy for my small business now. As a person who is diagnosed recently with severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, having a full-time job and showing up in the workplace was a very big challenge and proved to be very difficult.

Thus, MP Study Hub was born.

It started when a former client from a private Lutheran school requested me to tutor her son. And now, I have 13 clients --- 12 virtual and one doing in-person!

Truly, God works in mysterious ways! Both the Pandemic and my medical condition became blessings in disguise.

Creativity and flexibility prove to be keys to successful distance teaching. I experiment on using Zoom, video recordings of myself, printed packets, manipulatives, etc. to know what strategies will be more effective for my clients.

We all experience setbacks life. There were times that we had it all planned and then the unexpected happens. Our world crumbles. Sometimes, we even blame God for our seeming misfortune.

When I am bothered with a problem, I pray. When I pray, sometimes God seems not to answer. But after buckets of tears, I will be at that point when I see "Jesus standing on the shore" of deliverance.

Allow me to share my prayer:

"Lord, allow me to do something where I can give my all, something that will unify all my passions, something that will bring out all the possibilities in my life, something that will make me live out Your plan for my life."

One thing I learned in all these is that no matter what trials come, we should keep doing the GOOD we are supposed to do. Looking back, my greatest blessings consist of spiritual growth, opportunities to serve, and the impact I have on people's lives. We may not always understand the Lord's wisdom behind every event, but all things happen for a reason. We will see how all things work for good to those who love Him!