# data[].attributes.body
Finding ways through a challenge - covid challenge was a learning experience. And involved a change for the better.

Everyone experienced different challenges, dependent on their roles and responsibilities.

Challenges can be very individual and specific, often circumstantial. 
Students and young people are also resilient themselves- eg Grade 12 scenario - brave and courageous, after going through anger and denial. Identifying with others.

You're never alone, there are always others who have been there before, or who you can build community and connections with to support you.

Covid actually built community, even better than before.. Giving everyone strength. Looking at even the small positives helps you build through the experience.

Working from home with students and children also at home… sudden the home school balance was the more difficult stressor. 

Boost in use of technology and the skill set.
.
Admiration of the young, we were successful online, but it will  never  be the same as the physical contact face to face and the power of real contact.  

Waiting it out and expecting it to just go away can turn into a negativity, you have to try and avoid that. 

# data[].attributes.body
We also need to recognise that not everyone is as well equipped to be resilient, regardless of their immediate personal situation, whether they have family here or not, etc. The article we read from Aguilar addresses the issue of epigenetics in people’s resilience to adversity. It is important that people are aware of how well-equipped they are from the outset. This is something that our school as a whole needs to recognise in both our students and adults.

# data[].attributes.body
Corona times - staying at home and working with students on Zoom allowed us to focus just on students. It took away the "noise" of school and allowed us to be completely with the students.
not having an easy path on continuing education
- tested my resolve to continue on my path that will ultimately be better professionally

# data[].attributes.body
Corona times - staying at home and working with students on Zoom allowed us to focus just on students. It took away the "noise" of school and allowed us to be completely with the students.
Staying with a choice made months ago - looking at the positives of this choice. knowing that "I" made this choice and knew what the consequences - positive and negative would be.

# data[].attributes.body
•	Enjoyed being home with own families 
•	Fantastic head of school. 
•	Bonded with collegeagues
•	Helping with younger children’s resilience

# data[].attributes.body
1. Collaboration makes all the difference
2. Gratitude for relationships built with students before moving to DLP
3. Challenges in balancing personal and professional needs

# data[].attributes.body
Challenges varied from individual to individual, but overall we are so lucky as a community to have the reach, resources, and community we do.
For many of us, it was less "challenging" per se, and more making adjustments and modifications to what we were doing when it came to DLP.
Processing complex feelings can be difficult, and everything that's happening in the world is compounding stress levels... we're carrying around many things, not just one issue at a time. Support from colleagues is invaluable.
Although the school espouses taking the time to take care of self and stay balanced, it would be helpful to actually be given more time to do that as educators - put words into action.

# data[].attributes.body
Resilience came from experience - human connections over perfection!

Accepting that life will be difficult at times

Focus on what you can do/ what you have control over
Finding a community/ social group

Perspective

Building relationships

Focus on the now instead of worry about the future

# data[].attributes.body
From the three stories we heard, there seemed to be a theme: Less is more. Covid has taught us to focus on what matters most: our children, friends, passions, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
1. We need to acknowledge that DLP has caused stress on teachers, students and parents. Need to acknowledge the stress and take action to find a way reduce it and find balance in our life.
2. Teamwork makes the dream work. Collaboration is important.
3. Learning how to stop negative thoughts in their tracks. Staying positive during stressful times is paramount.
4. Share your experiences with Admin in a kind, constructive way so they can act accordingly.
5. FIS  teachers, students, parents are VERY resilient, as everyone stood up and ran the DLP with little complaint successfully. Its when were operating at 150% for an extended period of time and we begin to get 'stretched' so thin (Rubber band metaphor)1 week,  2 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks... that we begin to 'snap' (burnout) and thats where Admin should look at the schedule, teacher expectations, student time on zoom objectively in order to reduce the load on everyone and not be 'stretched' and go back to a sense of normality. There is also no absolute resilience. Everyone has a limit.

# data[].attributes.body
- For us, DLP has had rather positive outcomes in terms of exploring and adapting teaching strategies.
- Hybrid model was stressful in terms of reaching a continuity of learning, to find the right balance - are we reaching all students?

# data[].attributes.body
- Teachers, in general, are pretty resilient. We just get things done. It's stressors in our personal lives which are tougher.
- Covid has required us to really forward think and plan in order to prepare for any future stressors which may test your resilience.
- If on DLP, it is important to allow staff to work from an environment that allows them to be surrounded by things that allow them to de-stress.
- Organisation is key.
- Wine is key!

# data[].attributes.body
1. learning how to work "without" in times of transition
2. learning to listen to one another and have more emotional connections, and the value of coming closer together in a student-teacher group--having the time to do this
3. Kids are very resilient and find ways to learn independently and solve problems on their own. Giving kids choices was the best way to help students find their strengths.
4. We need more flexibility in our schedules and in the structures to support how much of an impact we can have in our work. Teaching and being with the kids is where the passion comes from and the rewards come from these relationships
5. Keeping the learning going at home/on DLP and utilizing technology (flipgrid) to share this with the larger community and continuing the daily goals and check-ins. Driven on student choice and accountability.
6. Trying to find balance between home/personal life and our work life and making sure self-care helps to support the work that we do.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Missing the students was a big theme, when you have a social job, that interaction is an integral part of your day and life but having to do it online presented struggles of spending so much time on a device.
2. Moving from interacting so much everyday in person to an electronic platform was a very strange experience and there was a lot of adjusting to be done to get comfortable with not having that 'in the flesh' presence with others.
3. Using the masks all of the time has been a big challenge.
4. The house that usually felt like your own safe space suddenly became the place where all of the work and stress was accumulating and the place where you actually wanted to get away from. Going for walks was helpful.
5. That feeling of being cut off from family who live in other countries was very stressful and scary.
6. Depending on where you were, food security was a big issue as some places did not have grocery delivery options so whatever you had at home, had to last.
7. Without that physical closeness to our students, it was very difficult to anticipate what would be coming next and to help the kids when they were not sure about what was required.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Graduating families have suffered stress due to IB students not scoring well on the IBs and then not getting into the colleges that they wanted.  Student reached out to her teachers for help.  Cultivating resilience alone is difficult, but when we band together and reach out, things get easier.
2.  New families don't have the outreach as they normally have due to the absence of get-togethers.  The lack of social contacts has mad it difficult to settle in; however when reaching out, people have been creative so that people can get together to help people settle in.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Life roles all colliding at once. Parenting, teaching, spouseing- felt ineffective in each role whilst trying to navigate balancing them all at the same time. None of the roles were done to the best of my ability. Drinking was the answer to help cope- if DLP happened again, priority would be on finding 'me time'.
2. Juggling of different schedules at home, made things difficult. It became survival mode...as an educator, felt that sometimes letting the ball drop is OK. We are human- we don't need to be perfect!
3. Fear of the unknown! Moving jobs during uncertain times was a challenge as such an organised person. As an educator, learned that 'what will be will be', I will find a different path. Live in the moment!
4. Feeling of inadequacy, not able to help students or colleagues who I knew were struggling due to restrictions etc.
5. Positive of DLP- quality time with loved ones

# data[].attributes.body
--still ongoing, hasn't been that long of a time (even though it feels like it)
--feels like it will be ages before it changes
--biggest challenge: changing roles in the school, Zooming in with very young children, varied reactions and engagement amongst the students
--had to rethink our "usual" go-to tools and find new ones, so a lot of reading and learning as a teacher, though pushed to one's limits
--spurred on by a great team leader and supportive leadership, strong team
--difficult not having students around, colleagues and teams made changes that affected one's work who did not have a class of their own
--possibility of a sudden DLP is always on one's mind... still in the middle of it
--feel lucky here relatively speaking
--one of us didn't mind Zoom because it allowed for sharing materials and letting students guide themselves (US students IB and 9th and 10th graders), allowed for teaching as a guide
--difficult when we returned from DLP to have day on/day off bc students considered it an actual "day OFF", complicated and messy
--struggled to be a "pioneer" in new practices and trying to make it engaging and not really having any strategies or resources to fall back on other than my "old school" techniques (which I'm not proud of and never felt very good about); figuring what is now "best practice" in the DLP and hybrid conditions; going from being a confident, competent teacher to feeling wobbly about everything I was doing every day

# data[].attributes.body
1. Seeing students floundering in the DLP but feeling helpless to support them or help them. Continued emailing to support and realizing when there was only so much you could do and being able to let go and communicate that to the student.
2. Finding the balance between supporting your students but also supporting your own children. When DLP first started we gave everything to our students, often to the detriment of our own families, and finding a way to balance that was very difficult. We had to acknowledge what was happening and admit it was hard and figure out how to move forward. We really needed to set boundaries to make it sustainable for the long haul.
3. We became more empathetic towards the students. Seeing the students at home, with their parents working, struggling to deal with everything and do their work without the support they are used to. We had to adjust our teaching styles and expectations. We had to be able to constantly "pivot".
4. Generating enthusiasm in the kids took so much energy. As the time went on, it became harder to stay upbeat and engage the students in unique ways.
5. Dealing with the stress is one day at a time and relying on friends to help you through.
6. Having a baby one week into the DLP and having to teach from the hospital while trying to take care of the baby and help my wife.

# data[].attributes.body
One of the big topics across our group:

-> Social emotional component of teaching:

- interaction with students had changed massively and gave a very different outlook on the teaching profession
- facilitating of technology and tasks took over and human interaction really got into the background
- huge challenge in approach and self -understanding: focus on positives and contact time

# data[].attributes.body
- Providing emotional and academic closure for students  -- in the face of overwhelming logistical and health-related odds
- Managing the mental stress and frustration of a demanding job and being able to accept that perfection is not the priority at the moment
- Acceptance, Adaptation and Learning (given difficult situations) - what are the most essential things for students to know? is socio-emotional development more important when it comes to student resilience?
- Reassessing priorities: family and self before work during the DLP and setting clear boundaries to compartmentalize spheres of life
- How do we define being the "best teacher" during a pandemic? -- the weight of uncertainty has led to appreciation (the 'little things') and acceptance of "waiting" (for normalcy? what is normal?)