The New York Times article I chose for Friday’s writing was “We Need Social Solidarity, Not Just Social Distancing,” because being distant from everyone has been a struggle for me already — you already know that the way I run my classroom (my life) is connected to all of the people I encounter each day. My day is better when the days of people around me are better: I joke all of the time that I’m very calculatedly warm and friendly, because that makes my daily life warmer and friendlier. In Harry Potter terminology, I’m the Hufflepuffiest Slytherin I’ve ever known.

In more serious ways, I feel that we all do better when we all do better. Think back to a normal day in the classroom, when just a few people in that class were having a bad day. What starts with silence or flinging a bag into a chair develops into snapping at neighbors, muttering under your breath, yelling, and even physical fights. The well-being of our classroom depends on everyone inside of it. Instead of feeding into that negativity — threats, detentions, extra homework — I try to meet whatever need it is that’s leading to a bad day. (Sometimes that need is being left alone for a little while; that’s understandable too.) That brings up the rest of the classroom. The best classes are the ones where we take care of each other: if I’m sharing that lifting with everyone else, we tend to spend more of our time happy and content.

During our time of social distancing, I want our country to become “its better, collective self”. I’ve already seen this on my street. Plenty of neighbors are out walking and saying hello to each other (from a safe distance!), where before, we might have avoided eye contact. Another neighbor photocopied flyers offering help with groceries or errands for anyone self-isolating at home; “I have TP” was handwritten over his typed contact information. My mother-in-law is making masks for nurse friends of mine, and I’m making (much less professional) ones for my parents.

By taking care of each other, I hope that everyone can get what they need — that will bring this quarantine to an end faster, and with more of us healthy at its conclusion.