More and More Every Day – Donna Philippot, 8/13/20

“A Remarkable Time, and Not a Forever”

Donna Philippot, MEd.
Drama, Language, and Literature Teacher, Hopkins West Middle School (MN)

Donna Philippot is a Middle School Drama, Language, and Literature teacher at Hopkins West Junior High near Minneapolis, MN. She joined us today to talk about overhauling her classes into an online system in only a matter of weeks. 

For Donna, it seemed the watershed moments kept coming, as COVID19 affected her both personally and professionally. When she worries about her students, she emails, calls, or shows up in their driveways to let them know she cares. Donna worries about the students who are sad, as they are coming into the long term realization of the realities of 2020. 

To keep from overwhelming herself and her students, Donna thinks about the essential learning as she builds meaningful, accessible assignments. She tries to value their time and interests, and strives to be resourceful. Her drama students, for example, were encouraged to create lip syncs, puppet shows, and videos to share with the rest of the class.

Donna finds “normalcy” in moving around her house to new places while working from home. She misses hugging her family members and friends. She predicts that when she can hug people again, she will do “that big, ugly cry” with gratitude. When she thinks about the future, she worries about the mysteries of the virus itself, and hopes that we will be “so much better at being kind to each other” when this is all over.

Hear the interview wherever you get your podcasts.

Show notes: 

• Donna mentioned being a long-time reader of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novels. Take a look at Atwood’s classic, The Year of the Flood. 
• One of Donna’s favorite quote is Dave Hollis’ “In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider what parts of normal are worth rushing into.” She also finds comfort in Brian Dreyas’ saying, “You may not see it yet, but you will speak with reverence and awe of this, even to the end of your days, that you were here when we remembered who we are.”

Interview Date: 5/7/20

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