My observations and thoughts living in the age of Corona Virus:

1. People are generally falling into three camps (or a combination of the three, based on the hour or day):

• Optimistic – Looking for the opportunities this quarantine creates and ways to cope in a positive light
• Attacking – attacking others’ choices, or the government, or whomever
• Making Jokes – funny or sarcastic memes about the state of the world

2. More and more people are looking to connect on social media. I had sworn off Facebook but find myself spending a lot of time scanning, reacting, and commenting on posts. Looking for connection where I see it.

3. Tensions are running high at home. My kids are like a tea pot about to boil. The slightest thing sets them off. So far, online schooling has taken 20-50% longer than when they were in school.

The status quo appears for teachers to assign a lot of work…better to have too much, than not enough. But at least for our kids, who are the perverbial perfectionists and over-achievers, this means high stress, many breakdowns and spending WAY too much time on their computers, not interacting with others or getting exercise.

4. I don’t have a way to help my daughter, who has dyslexia and anxiety, cope or function in this new reality. There’s no accounting for her challenges. There’s more reading and writing than in a regular class room. I’m hoping schools and teachers get creative and post lectures that are videos, or do a video chat, or have them look at slides rather than read an article or 10 and write 3 paragraphs on what your thoughts are. I hope they can turn in their work by doing a video, drawing something, or submitting an audio file, so that those who have reading and writing challenges can stay caught up and feel successful.