Class DIVIDERS: One Small Example

This is a continuation of the in-progress book: Class Dividers.

March 2022: Today

I have a young 9th grade girl in 2nd period English named Marni. To this day, I have never really seen her face. I did see it for a few seconds once. Months ago, she took a quick drink from her water bottle. I told her I was happy to finally see how she looked! She quietly looked at me, put her mask back on, dutifully covering her nose and mouth. I have not seen her face since. She seemed a bit taken aback by my excitement and comment. That was October 2021.

I have no idea if she enjoys my class. She has never voiced her opinion on anything – other than stating one morning that school was “annoying”. I have never seen her smile. For that matter, I have never seen a facial expression of any kind. The only reference to her personality, the type of things that can be seen through facial expressions, is from her picture in my attendance software – a picture where she is 12 years old. She is also extremely quiet. She says ‘good morning’ to me when she arrives. She speaks to me when I speak to her, but she volunteers nothing. Her face can’t betray anything, as it is covered all the time. Her eyes are wide, often looking scared.

In truth, this girl is still in middle school. She was told she needed to go home in March of 7th grade. In the ensuing two years she got ‘school’ through a screen. The “school is annoying” comment above was from early in this school year when I asked her how she liked it here in “in person school”. I suspect she got used to the disembodied voices coming from her laptop, and the easy credit she got simply by handing in ‘work’. Her social skills atrophied during the two years out of the classroom, and it looks like her literacy skills leveled off at a middle school level. I have tried to help her, but it’s hard to see her because I don’t know what she’s feeling or thinking – she gives off no clues. All I see most days is a 14-year-old girl hunched over her laptop or phone, robotically doing her work. When she’s done, she is on her phone, playing a game, silent.

One thing I did that has helped fix this dystopia is break away from doing all of our material on my smartboard and student laptop. I have done something radical. I have reintroduced paper. I didn’t ask permission. For two years, we were told that surfaces were ‘dangerous’. Paper transfer, pens, surfaces, were all agents and carriers of The Virus. Like everything else during Coronavirus Time, it was completely untrue. Marni has taken to doing her work on paper. Her handwriting is neat (a rarity these days), and she comes across as a thoughtful, careful person through her writing. I wish I had made the move to paper sooner. Many students, particularly the 9th graders, prefer doing classwork on paper. A few students who had previously done no schoolwork are now handing in handwritten assignments regularly.

Maybe I’ve found something to help Marni. I hope so. The personality and soul that are behind that mask have been hammered into a place deep down by 2 years of unending onslaught of misplaced digital fear and despair. Perhaps one day the real Marni will emerge. It doesn’t look like it will be this year, however. She’s too far gone.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Here's how you can help me out during The Current Year:

You can send me Bitcoin Cash (BCH) here:



My Udemy classes are here - extremely low price and you have them forever.

I also sell custom made mugs. I'll do personalized orders as well. They are all made in the United States - in Pennsylvania.

All of the mugs are here on Gearbubble. These are made in the USA, and if you don't want to contribute to Amazon's record profits during this time of CV19, the Gearbubble link is the one to use. Thank you!