Unlearning the Language of Social Distancing (by Danielle Douez)

This week’s blog post includes a linked audio file. Just click on the link below if you would like to hear the post read aloud. Scroll down to read the text.

Our guest blogger this week, Danielle Douez, is an MA student in philosophy at Concordia University. Before moving to Montreal, she lived in Atlanta for 10 years and worked in communications and journalism. She loves stories, storytelling, and chocolate chip cookies.

The streets of Montreal are quiet. All I hear is water. Miniature icebergs of an unusually mild winter’s snow and ice are finally birthing small brooks and streams. April showers are joining them down into the drains, merging with the already swollen Saint Lawrence River.

Soaking in the stillness from my living room, I occasionally dip my toe into the rip tide of headlines and social media. It’s gotten increasingly difficult to stay afloat, as everyone and their mom, y las abuelas y tías too, are clamoring on to this virtual Noah’s ark. Other days, I check in by text, and more often than usual by phone, with people I haven’t talked to in ages. I find myself listening for a pulse.

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In Defense of the Physical Classroom (by April Passi)

Several months ago, I had thought about writing a post in defense of the physical classroom. It seems that right now is the perfect time to write this post. We are all practicing social-distancing and many governments have closed schools. As administrators, teachers, and students grapple with moving their classrooms to the virtual realm, we might like to reflect on how this (temporary?) relocation will change our perspectives on what a classroom really is. 

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