One lesson that the United States appeared to learn at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was that schools are an essential part of our society. Schools are not only places where students can learn core subject material in the areas of Reading, Social Studies, Science and Math; but schools also feed, clothe and care for students as long as the buildings are open. Schools are the safe place some students depend on due to horrible situations at home. Schools are where students are able to socialize with their peers and learn how to navigate interpersonal relationships. Schools are where students spend their time not just learning core content material, but they also spend time discovering their interested and forming plans for their futures from these interests (thank you ‘electives’ teachers for your vital role in this discovery and planning).
Beginning in March with the state of Kansas, schools were closed nationwide with little to no warning as governors tried to slow the number of cases of this deadly virus in their states. My fellow teachers and I left for Spring Break anticipating maybe an extra week or two at home – but things were suddenly much different. It was the right call to make though as we saw many states have a leveling off of the number of new cases of this deadly virus. Schools were closed (the buildings at least) and stay at home orders were enacted to safeguard citizens. Fourth quarter was a rough one and we will have to make up ground in the coming months, but safety is a priority.
School buildings were closed nationwide with little to no warning and teachers were told to start teaching virtually. What other field was so drastically turned on its head and changed with no preparation? Guess what happened, teachers showed up and did what was asked of them. It’s what we do – we take care of our students. We took our lessons online with little to no extra help or guidance and we showed up for our students. We learned new apps, new ways of presenting material and became masters at running Zoom/Webex sessions with our students. We sent emails daily to our students and their parents/guardians who needed a little extra encouragement or support during this time of learning at home. We reached out to students we didn’t hear from and worked hard to make our lessons and material as engaging online as it would have been in the classroom. Teachers were told to teach our students and teach our students we did.
A funny thing happened after a few weeks in this new learning from home environment; people started to realized that teachers do not have an easy job. When faced with trying to encourage their children to complete work, parents realized that few people are cut out for the task. Parents did an admirable job – I promise I am not trying to say anything to the contrary. I am a teacher and my own two sons DO NO WANT to have me as their teacher. I am supposed to be mom and that’s it. Teaching is hard work, and for too long people have thought that anyone could do it. After all, how hard could teaching kids all day really be? How many times have we heard – but you get summers off? (We don’t really, but that topic is for another day.)
Parents and adults nationwide took to social media and proclaimed that teachers are essential and need better pay. Parents couldn’t believe how hard the job is and we heard promises to stop complaining about our work schedule and school supply lists. We all made it to the end of our school years and adults breathed a sigh of relief that they would no longer have to try and instruct their children in the area of academics. Teachers felt a little more respect than they have in a long time and we had hopes that this could help bridge the gap between home and school. (Okay, maybe that is my own thought, but surely there are others out there hoping the same?) Education is a team effort and we teachers need parents in our corner to help their students succeed.
Things stated in the spring seem to have been forgotten. Now the time to think about opening school buildings for the 2020-2021 school year is quickly approaching and it seems there is a HUGE division of opinion on the correct answer to this dilema. People are by and large in favor of school districts reopening their buildings. Students are eager to get back to school and most teachers have been hoping for a return to some version of ‘normal’ teaching. This issue is even being politicized – even though that is the WRONG approach to take. We have to focus on whether or not it is safe to reopen school builings. We also have to keep in mind that extra safety measures will have to be in place for the buildings to open – and schools are once again facing tremendous budget cuts due to the dire straits of the economy. Extra supplies for cleaning and sanitizing, as well as PPE have to be considered – but where will the money come from?
Lots of talk is taking place about what is best for students, which is great because we do need to worry about our students. They need to be back in school – we all know this fact. There is one crucial group who will be directly affected by the decisions made, and this group is not being asked to participate in any official decision making. This group of people has been repeatedly called upon to carry out decisions that are made from those without first hand knowledge of how classrooms operate. Who is this group that I am speaking of?
It’s the teachers! Look at all the meetings taking place in federal, state and local governments around the issue of reopening school buildings – where are the teachers in these meetings. States are even creating cohorts of people to help make this important decision for the coming school year, but why aren’t the teacher views being talked about in these groups or any press releases from these groups?
Teachers are a crucial part of our educational system. They are on the ‘front lines’ in the classrooms day in and day out teaching and caring for stuents. Teachers (and other staff) overal truly want to get back to the classroom, but what about the risks? While K-12 students are an age group considered to be at low risk for positive cases and infections, do we honestly know enough about this virus to be certain that we understand how it is transmitted? How do we know that students won’t pass it on quickly and too easily to the adults in the building? Also, we are relying on these same students to wear their masks and wash their hands regularly during the school day in order to even think about reopening buildings. These are the same kids, who even at the high school level, don’t cover their coughs or sneezes. Nevermind all the other things that they do or won’t do. (Can you say cell phone addiction?)
Teachers want to teach again, but is anybody thinking of the risks to them? If too many teachers get sick, how will schools stay open? If too many teachers must stay home to care of sick partners or children, how will schools stay open? What about the teachers that rely on family members to watch their small children? Should they risk infecting these family members? There are so many things we still don’t understand about this virus. (And don’t even get me started on the power of wearing a mask – it’s not to do yet people are offended by this? Ugh.) I see so many posts and articles about keeping children safe if/when schools reopen. What about us – the teachers? Where is the love that was declared for us last spring? We want to teach again, but the risks are becoming so great because we are still a long ways from knowing everything about COVID-19.
When decisions are made, not all parties will be happy. There is no way for this to be a reality and I hope people can remember this when they hear districts’ plans for the coming school year. I wish we, as a society, would learn that teacher input should be considered in decisions as big as the one facing us now. Teachers are by and large a caring group of people. We want our students to be safe and successful, but we also want to be safe when doing our jobs. Not to mention the trauma that we will be dealing with from the isolation students faced and so many other horrifying realities students were stuck in when school buildings closed. This trauma alone will make the beginning of the year stressful enough without the added worry about getting COVID-19.
Tough decisions are ahead in the next few weeks. Can we please, just once, ask the teachers what they think? This may be happening in some places, but it is NOT happening everywhere. This time lives truly depend on the outcomes from these decisions about the upcoming school year. Shouldn’t the ones who work closely with our students (and our own children) have a say in those decisions?
Musing of a Motivated Math Teacher 