Assistant Principal Blog

In the spirit of Chinese New Year, today's article has been translated into Mandarin, via Yi!

The day started with the news that two private schools (unnamed and source completely unfounded) had asked their students to take home all of their books and devices for the weekend in the event of a lock-down occurring.  This isn’t the first time in the last year we’ve gotten wind of such goings on.  I immediately tease our red baseball cap wearing mate who has been in for a meeting that the message has come from the high school his children go to.  “Oh stop, no!” he says and we all laugh the laugh of people who have absolutely no idea we’re about to have our afternoon and next 5 days completely turned on its head.

我们的星期五从一个来历不明的消息开始. 为了以防突如其来的疫情封锁, 墨尔本的两所私校(在此不做点名)要求他们的学生把所有书本和学习用具带回家. 对于经历过去年封锁的我们来说, 这样的消息应该已经不是第一次了. 我立马幸灾乐祸地告知那天正好来学校开会的"红帽子"(我们都知道是谁), 消息就是来自于他孩子所上的那所高中. "噢不!" 他说. 我们俩都大笑了起来. 当时心情愉悦的我们还完全不知道我们的这个下午和接下来的五天将会彻底地被改变.

That’s how it starts, but if I have to be honest, that’s how they all start.  We get absolutely no heads up, no time to think and the expectation is that everything stops in order to accommodate something we can’t foresee nor have the answers to.  But that’s later.  Right now we are eating chocolates from my no-so-secret stash and planning a meeting with our school captains and are looking forward to a nice assembly before a busy weekend of parties and lunches and good times… The calm before the storm, so they say.

一切就是这样开始的! 我不得不诚实地说, 每次的开始都是那么似曾相似. 没有提醒, 也没有时间去思考, 外界对我们的期待就是马上停下所有的一切去迎合去适应我们预测不到或没有答案的变化. 当然，这是待会儿我们要去担心的, 现在的我们要一边享受着从我那个毫无秘密可言的"秘密"甜点箱里找到的巧克力, 一边要为中午的学生干部会议做着计划. 那时的我们期待着下午的全校集会, 期待着一个充斥着聚会, 美食, 好时光的忙碌周末...... 就像我们常常说的, 暴风雨前的宁静.

By the time recess bell tolls we have heard some other rumours to the same effect, but there is no news from where it counts and we are watching the clock tick over and wondering what to believe.  The decision that it's better to be safe than sorry, we call a meeting with all staff immediately.  We know very little but there may be something happening with lock-down ...starting today.  We decide if nothing else to get all children ready with their Showbie codes before lunchtime rolls around.   Despite the uncertainty the writing on the wall has been read, and already there are teachers crying in the staffroom while the children play blissfully unaware, outside the staffroom door.  Their squeals from the junior playground pierce the thoughtful contemplation of a masked-up staff wondering what this all means.  Teachers of course are parents, daughters, sons and carers first. We feel what our community feels right now because contrary to popular belief we aren’t on the other side of the fence.  There is no fence when it comes to lock-downs.  Teachers, aides and the rest of us are juggling our job with our commitments and responsibilities at home and it isn’t all that much fun to do that while remote teaching. There is a scheduled press conference at 11am and we promise to relay information as soon as it is handed down. The bell goes – there is no time to think.

到了课间休息的时候, 我们听到了更多类似的传言, 仍旧没有任何官方的消息. 随着时间一分一秒地流逝, 我们变得更为迷茫, 已经不知道应该去相信什么. 当然安全总比后悔好, 因此我们决定马上跟所有老师开会. 我们有可能要面对再一次封城?  当时的我们知之甚少, 但无论这种可能是否发生, 我们最起码在午休前要让所有孩子的Showbie准备好. 当大家看着教师休息室里白板上的会议流程时, 当毫不知情的孩子们在休息室外无忧无虑地玩耍时, 已经有老师默默地在流泪. 低年级游乐场里孩子们发出的尖叫声打破了正在尝试消化信息的老师们的沉思. 老师, 首先是家长, 女儿, 儿子, 家庭照顾者. 我们完全明白我们整个社区现在的感受, 那是因为不同于大家所认为的, 我们老师并没有站在"围墙"的另一边. 在疫情封锁中, 这面"围墙"根本就不存在. 老师, 助教以及其他教职工, 我们也挣扎在工作和家庭责任的天平上, 远程教学对我们来说也并不是一件令人期待向往的事儿. 中午十一点有一场新闻发布会, 当时的我们能保证做到的就是尽快传达信息. 上课铃声响了, 没时间去思考了!

Everyone collects themselves and goes back into the classroom with some haste to put some plans in place… just in case.  Andrew and I discuss operational issues arising and plan for things like parent communication and organization of a potential lock-down. There is still no news but there is something uncomfortable and heavy in the air that we can't ignore. The presser has been postponed because of a cabinet meeting.  That doesn’t sound good. 

老师们纷纷武装起自己，回到了自己的岗位. 大家都明白我们得马上准备起来...... 以防万一. 我和Andrew俩人开始讨论一些有关潜在封锁会带来的焦点问题以及学校运作的具体计划. 虽然当时的我们还没有得到任何确切的官方消息, 但是学校里已经弥漫着令人不舒服的沉重气氛. 新闻发布会因内阁会议又一次被推迟了. 我有一种不太好的预感!

A school tour comes through and that is performed in typical professional style by Andrew. While the tour goes on, I have a series of meetings around student support and forward planning for funding.  There are people popping their heads in and asking the normal questions – How do I?  When should I?  Who does? What can I?  …all the usual questions, all the time. But like a duck in water, the serene normality of the day is coupled with wild paddling underneath the surface.   How does one flip a school into remote learning in the space of only a few hours with no official go ahead? These are questions no one can, will or is going to give us an answer to and these are the questions we face. It’s the most atypical typical Friday work day.  I know it’s gotten really real when Connie announces that all the ministers have been advised to get on a plane to Canberra immediately so that they are in the ACT in the event of a Victorian lock-down.  We all know one thing for sure, politicians don’t do anything much… unless they are backed into a corner.

一场校园参观, 在Andrew专业的指挥下, 顺利地进行着. 与此同时, 我有着一大堆学生福利与资金援助申请方面的会议要开. 时不时有人走进我的办公室, 对我提出那些"灵魂拷问" - 我应该怎么做? 我应该什么时候做? 谁负责做? 我能做些什么?...... 就像水中的鸭子, 我们看到了水面上的平静, 但是却看不到水下疯狂的划水. 到底怎么才能在没有任何确定消息的情况下在几个小时内让整个学校准备好远程教学呢? 没有人可以或者会回答我们的这些问题, 而这些问题却恰恰是我们正在面对的. 今天真的是一个最非典型的典型周五工作日. 当Connie向我们宣布所有的政府官员们都被建议马上飞往堪培拉以避免受困于维多利亚的全州封锁时, 我就知道这此封锁已不可避免了. 我们都知道一件事, 政客们绝不会贸然行动, 除非他们已经被逼入死角.

We're in a corner.

而我们正在这个死角里.

There is silence from all official angles and Daniel Andrews hasn’t gone live yet but the lunch bell is going and if he isn’t going live, we will.  We cannot go into this weekend with uncertainty clouding the situation.

仍然没有任何官方消息, Daniel Andrews也还未上线, 但是午间休息的铃声却敲响了. 即使他不上线, 我们也一定要有所行动了. 我们最不希望看到的就是那疑惑的乌云悬挂在我们的头顶, 我们带着这种不确定开始我们的周末.

Our lunchtime spot meeting is nothing short of incredible.  There is immediate recognition that while there hasn’t been a press conference or other news that we should make a plan just in case and everyone is suddenly on board, even though everyone is also terrified and confused and feeling sick to our stomachs because no one wants a repeat of 12 hour days and battling family while working. In short order there is a discussion and a list of what the students need, what we need and what we should do before the end of the day.  We are all piping up with ideas and it all gets written down on the whiteboard like a million dollar board meeting in a Dot.com startup (without the pay packet).

中午的紧急会议简直令人难以置信. 即使每个人都有点忐忑, 迷茫甚至有点恶心, 我们知道我们应该马上制定计划. 每一位老师都全身心地投入到准备工作中去, 因为我们一定要尽快让自己准备好, 因为我们中没有一个人想要回到那日复一日十二小时的长时间工作中去, 也没有一个人想要在工作和家庭中艰难地挣扎. 我们讨论着, 列出了今天放学前学生需要的东西, 我们需要的东西以及我们应该要做的事情. 我们集思广益, 休息室里的白板上列出了无数个点子和建议, 感觉就像正在开一场当初硅谷各大网络公司刚刚启动时的董事会会议. 当然啦, 他们因此赚得盆满钵盈, 而我们永远达不到那种工资水平.

There is a moment in the chaos when I stand back and study the room.  This space is filled with humans who have a wealth of experience, energy and expertise that proves we have hired some of the best people in the business.  I thank my lucky stars that this is who has our backs and who I get to share my work life with.  There is too much diversity to please everyone in our community but there is absolutely nothing but the best of intentions in this room right now.  I wish this unfathomable moment was made public so that everyone could understand what I (and Bruce Springsteen) already knows: you can’t start a fire without a spark. There is no room for self – at this point it’s just manifestation and creation.  By the end of lunch, no one has eaten but we have a plan and we have an afternoon (100 minutes in fact) to piece it together.  Everyone has a job to do and while the batteries are low, there is enough to get us through.  Andrew promises a communication at 3pm, hopefully by then we have something official by way of news and we can tell the students. If there is no lock-down, then we will be prepared for the future.  We rationalize this, while being slightly triggered by it.

在所有的混乱中, 有那么一刻我开始观察这个房间. 这个房间里坐满了拥有着丰富经验, 精力与专长的人. 这正证明了我们学校雇佣了一大批教育行业里的精英. 我觉得自己很幸运能够跟这么多出色的人一起工作, 能够得到他们的支持, 对此我非常感恩. 虽然我们知道我们很难使社区里的每个人都感到满意, 但是现在这里的每个人都在竭尽所能, 这个房间里充斥着满满的正能量. 我真心希望外界也可以看到这个不可思议的瞬间, 这样他们就可以了解我 (还有Bruce Springsteen) 早就知道的事实: 星星之火, 可以燎原. 午休时间就这么过去了, 没有人吃完了午餐, 但是我们已经有了一个完整的计划. 我们还有一个下午 (准确地说是100分钟)去把所有拼凑在一起. 每个人都有任务, 虽然每个人的电量已经偏低, 但是足够让我们度过难关. Andrew许诺会在下午三点跟所有家长进行沟通, 希望到那时我们已经有确定的官方通知, 我们也可以把这个消息告诉我们的学生. 如果没有封城, 那我们就当是为未来早做准备. 即使心中忐忑不安, 我们每个人都在尽力让一切看上去风平浪静。

From the end of lunch to 3pm is one short hour.  We, at the same time as you, have finally heard that there is going to be a lock-down for 5 days. We know nothing more than that.  Andrew and I make quick plans to divvy up jobs and our level coordinators – angels in denim with pony tails and about a million years of good teaching under their belts - gather in my office and work steadily together on a plan for all teachers and all classes and all students. In amongst that we are putting together parents, staff and whole school organization and operations in place.  We are troubleshooting scenarios that haven’t been invented yet. Outside my office there is a flurry of activity in every room in the school - devices, books, pencil cases, instructions, reassurances... We should have been having a nice assembly on a sunny Friday afternoon but instead we are like alchemists creating something out of nothing.  We watch it all manifest before our eyes into something tangible and doable.  There is dread about juggling our own families and our own lives in my office but there is no room to lament in that now.  There is only room for steely determination to just make the best out of it.

从午休结束到下午三点, 这一个小时一瞬即逝。我们，和你们在同一个时间，终于得到了封城五天的正式通知。我们知道的也就只是这个通知。我和Andrew做出了一些快速的计划去分摊工作。 我们的年级组长们聚集在我的办公室里，开始一起有条不紊地为所有师生准备一个教学方案。 我们做出了一个学校运作的具体方案， 还对有可能会发生的问题进行了讨论。在我的办公室以外，学校里的每个教室里都进行着一系列的准备活动 -  电子设备， 书本，铅笔盒，老师们指导着学生，同时也在尽力让学生不要担心...... 在这个阳光明媚的星期五下午，我们没有开成全校集会，取而代之的是我们当了一回炼金术士，施展了一回我们点石成金的法术。我们看着所有计划在眼前从无到有，从纯粹的想法转变为有形并可行的方案。当然，我们的心中还有着对自己家庭和生活的担心和恐惧，但是现在真的没有时间唉声叹气。现在的我们唯一要做的就是在困境中尽量做到最好。

By the time you collect your children from the front gate we have been to Narnia and back, weathered and aged without a moment extra on the clock to show for it.  Our after school meeting is a moment for us to rally and cheer ourselves into whatever lies ahead even ...though our hearts are sad.  No one else will do this cheer for us because no one else has been through an afternoon quite like this.  There are tears and a weariness but there is pride and gratefulness too.  I am grateful for everyone in the room – leaders, teachers, aides, administration. All have done their bit and all have chipped in somehow.  I have no idea if we are walking into 5 days or 5 weeks.  Whatever it is, you have to know that on that chaotic Friday afternoon last week, we totally had your back.

当你们在学校大门口领到自己孩子的时候，我们已经去“纳尼亚”走了个来回，感觉自己快速衰老了好几岁。放学后的会议让我们有机会聚在一起，相互鼓励，振奋起来去面对不可预测的未来...... 虽然大家都有点伤感。其他人不会为我们鼓掌，因为他们没有像我们一样经历了这样一个下午。这里有眼泪，有疲劳，但同时也有着骄傲和感恩。我感谢这个房间里的所有人- 领导，老师，助教，办公室人员。每个人都尽职尽责，每个人都以某种方式贡献了自己的力量。我不知道我们要面对的是五天还是五周。但无论如何，你们都应该要知道，在这个混乱的星期五下午，我们全校的教职工都站在你们的背后，鼎力地支持着你们。