Teaching During Covid
Teaching this year during the pandemic has been the hardest year of teaching for me. Yes, even harder than my first year of teaching. I feel like people expect teachers to be superheroes and that is hard to live up to at times. The expectations and pressure society is placing on us this year is overwhelming and exhausting. Yes, teachers love kids. Yes, teachers love teaching. We wouldn’t do this job if we didn’t love kids and love helping them grow and learn. Of course, it’s a rewarding job. Does that mean we should put our students first in everything? Before our families or our mental well-being? I don’t think so.
I started off the school year working 10–12 hour days during the week and 3–5 hours each day on the weekends. I was working during the school day, teaching on zoom, planning on the computer, stopping to cook dinner and get my kids in bed, then working more. I kept thinking that as soon as I got comfortable with the new platforms of remote learning, things would get easier. My knowledge of what I was doing and how it was going to be executed got better, but the time it took to plan meaningful lessons for multiple groups, on their individual levels just doesn’t get shorter.
Then we went back to face to face learning, but not everyone is face to face. So now, we have students on zoom and in the classroom; still with all the different groups and different abilities. Part of teaching is now texting parents and students to remind them to log into zoom at the appropriate time, it’s now reminding students to keep their masks on properly and to not get as close as they want to others.
Part of teaching has always been making sure students have their basic needs met. Children can not learn if they are too hungry, too tired, or too emotional. Now, more than ever, these things are important. Students regularly tell me they wish Covid would go away, they want to come back to school, they are tired of wearing masks, etc. In that moment, all I can do is empathize with the students. I let them know that I, too, am tired of all of this. I want to be able to take my mask off to teach them. I want the parents who are keeping their students home to feel safe sending their kids to school. I let them know that my own kids are learning at home also, and it’s hard. They want to be with their friends at school just like my students who are learning at home, but I’m not comfortable with that right now.
All the educator advice articles say you need to set boundaries. Don’t bring work home, leave work on time, etc. All of that is great in theory, but the work still needs to get done. The students need to be taught, the lessons need to get planned and inputted, the assignments need to be graded, the IEPs need to be written, and the parents need to get contacted. I worry about my students. I’m exhausted with worry about them.
Several months into school I set a boundary for myself. I was not to do any work on Saturdays. Saturday would be kept for my family. This boundary has stuck (mostly) and has been good for me. I also try to use my time more wisely at school, but sometimes you need to take your planning period to talk with your colleagues, or check your personal email, or respond to a text from your kid or spouse. Sometimes you have to look away from your computer.
So, instead of me telling you to give yourself boundaries and only work during contract hours (because I haven’t figured out how to do that), I will say to give yourself and others some grace. I am so thankful to teach with amazing people around me. They cut me slack often…when I forget to respond to an email, forget my own schedule (when it’s posted on the wall behind me), or forget my manners and interrupt their class to talk with a student. In return, I am trying to give others a break if they don’t respond to an email right away, or forget to sign off on an IEP right away. This includes the students. If they forgot to do their work (or turn in a blank assignment), then we spend the time getting it done together. Or if they didn’t show up for their zoom time, I let them know I missed them but then get on with the lesson the next time they do come. We have no idea what is going on with our colleagues or our students when they aren’t in the school building or in front of the camera on zoom. What I do know is that we are all working incredibly hard. We should all be commended for that, but maybe not quite put at superhero status. That way we have the space we need to give ourselves that break. To let ourselves off the hook, even if it’s just for a moment.
