Eleonora Pisano, our year five Italian teacher (primary school) explains:

Virtual classrooms, distance learning, web platforms, technology, videos, pdfs, emails, channels, applications… Welcome to the 21st century school! Yes, school … I feel completely out of place, in a time warp, in a different era. If I close my eyes and think of the word “school”, I think of a completely different idea. Blackboards (my unconditional love for slate is destined not to diminish, despite the usefulness and uniqueness of the IWB), more or less aligned desks, pencil cases scattered in every corner of the classroom, new books and dusty books, rucksacks , posters on the walls, chores to finish, but above all … voices, shrieks, smiles, races, tears, laughter, songs, hugs, caresses, children …. Children. My babies. Yes, because in the end your pupils always end up becoming “your children”, even if they make you lose your patience, even if you have to repeat to them a thousand times before they do what you want – in fact, before they even start to do it! – even if they are not your children, but in the end it’s a bit like they really are …

You met them in the last year of preschool, took them by the hand in year one and accompanied them – between victories and defeats, between tears and laughter, between trips and lessons – up to year five. And now? Just over a month and they will fly away, they will embark on new paths, they will grow – as it should be – but they will do it away from you … And you would have liked to live intensely, together with them, the last months of school, not to waste even one moment, to have no regrets, to enjoy them as much as possible. But then…. Lockdown. Isolation. Quarantine. Online learning. There will be no other hugs, there will be no other trips, there will be no other songs sung loudly as they sit on their desks while the rain beats down on the glass outside. There will be no morning breaks spent braiding hair, there will be no stories to tell … Or maybe yes. The stories. Stories to tell. They love stories and you love books. And you are sure that a little bit of that love you have transmitted to them in some way. So why not keep reading to them? A sort of … “Goodnight stories”.

Said and done! So I suggest it, they accept smiling and enthusiastic, then you connect with them at exactly 20.30 – three times a week – to read horror stories (these are their favorites …) and children’s novels, while – in a less austere and formal atmosphere than the morning video lesson – with their smiling faces, excited eyes, showing you their colorful pyjamas, then introducing you to their cuddly toys and pets … Every now and then brothers and sisters emerging – some are your ex students – who smile at you and they listen quietly, lying between the cushions, when they’re not pushing and pulling each other … Of course, it’s not like seeing each other at school every day, they are not “our group hugs”, but it’s still time. Time we have to stay together again, time to meet, to talk, to share some moments that we would not otherwise have, time to love each other, precious time to steal from this isolation, which cannot and must not make us feel sad and alone, because in this surreal and crazy situation, we all need even more affection, hope, confirmation, understanding, smiles and .. why not? Magic. The magic contained inside our books.

Goodnight dear children … see you tomorrow!