When Can I Have Students Back?

I finished my 20th year of teaching this May (2022), and I can honestly say it was the hardest year in my entire career. Even my first year of teaching was not as hard as this past year was for me and many, many others. I see stories about teachers leaving the field in large numbers, and I cannot say I am surprised.

I started out the 2021-2022 school year full of hope and anticipation. My district required masks on at all times, but after a year of remote, hybrid and then in-person learning, I was glad to start the year with my students. The only trouble was, there were still too many outside ‘things’ interferring with my teaching. The kids had missed out on time in the building and with groups of people, and even by the end of the year, we were not back to a place where things were normal.

1. Cell Phone problems were at an all time high. Students COULD NOT and WOULD NOT put them away. It was so ridiculous to look out across my classroom and see students on their phones rather than paying attention or even participating in an activity. The past school year, in the different modes, seemed to increase students’ dependency on their devices. To take the phone was to cause a huge and disruptive scene in class, and after a few of these, I decided to focus on the students paying attention.
2. Disrespect was at an all time high. I have never had so many students be selfish, rude, mean and even malicious before this year. It was as if students forgot basic common courtesy. I am not one of those teachers who expects respect because I am the teacher, even though I was taught to be respectful to adults as I was growing up. I give respect to my students from day one, in order to build a good working dynamic in my classroom. I work hard to create a classroom environment where students feel comfortable working together and asking for help. It starts with mutual respect, and there was none of that this past school year. I was just another person, who was making students do things they didn’t want to do – unless something was needed.
3. Apathy. Did students decide that school wasn’t important because they had completed so much time in a remote setting? Did students decide that school wasn’t important because they developed a false sense of security when they had the power to Google all of their assignment answers? There are so many other things that I can add to this list, but the remote/hybrid/in-person year led to an increase in students using their ‘resources’ to complete their work instead of trying to learn the material. This year, I knew to expect some of this, but the level of apathy that was prevalent across my classes was at an all time high. It was as if being in person was a chore, rather than any kind of opportunity to really learn. No willingness to try. No desire to learn new concepts. No desire to complete anything.

There were so many other things that made this school year so much harder, but the three above were the biggest ones. Many, who do not teach and never have taught, want to provide responses like “Well, you are the teacher, just handle it.” or “Well, kids are behind because of the pandemic.” or even “If you are so unhappy, just find a new job.”

The issue isn’t that many teachers had a hard school year, which we all did. The issue is that we are dealing with issues beyond our control, with no real help or support in sight. Schools are the backbone of a functionig society. Education is a life-changing thing to have. I believe in our schools. But when students come to school so behind in social skills, the job is that much tougher. I teach at the high school level, where there are social skills to teach, but usally not on such a large scale. Just because schools were ‘open’ again, people expected things to magically get better – but there was no support. Teachers cannot do their work alone – we need parental/guardian help!

My sincerest hope is that students will take a look at how this school year was for them, and decide to make next year better. That sounds like such an unrealistic dream, but at this point, I am praying for a miracle.