View from a teacher's brain and heart: Reactions during the Corona Crisis

I know there are several posts like this out there. But for my own piece of mind, I had to share this and get my two cents out there.

     To begin with, I am sitting at my computer, a place I've been stationed at more than ever before since the Corona crisis began, trying to unknot the anxiety pretzel in my stomach. My nerves are raw, my shoulders are tense, and my dander is up because I am fed up with the angry parents who are unleashing a word vomit of unfounded accusations against my district's teachers for a supposed lack of work for their children. They're demanding that we need to be fired for not doing our jobs because it took three weeks for the Desert Sands Unified School District to role out their learning plan.

     I understand that these disgruntled parents are frustrated because of the gap in the learning time. As a parent of a 4th and 7th grader, I get it. I don't want my kids falling behind either. However, as an educator, I need these parents to step back for a minute, take a deep breath, and see the whole picture.

     For one, when you compare what our district is doing compared with other districts, you are 1. not getting the whole picture and 2. picking and choosing what fits your personal argument. We do not know what those other districts had in place for emergencies. We do not know the socio-economic mix of that district or its size when you just say, "San Diego's been doing this that and the other while Orange County does this". Plus, you're leaving out the data of the other school districts in other states who are just now getting Chromebooks to students or just rolled out their distance learning plan. Don't make blanket statements.

     More importantly, do not tell me that all DSUSD teachers are not doing their work and trying to teach their students. That is another blanket statement. One that I can refute with evidence. I, myself, have had my Google Classroom up and running since the day we left school as have all the other teachers I work with. I have been posting activities, videos, lessons, etc on a daily basis. However, not every student is logging on/or participating. While we may have been waiting for the formal go ahead from the district for what distance learning is coupled with attending many online training sessions for new distance learning platforms, we have been supporting students emotionally and educationally throughout the entire time.

     For my own personal experience, I spend most of my day near my phone or computer so that I can respond quickly to my students or their parents when they ask questions about a reading or math activity I've posted. I've answered questions at 7 at night while playing a board game with my own kids. Otherwise, I'm searching for engaging activities, free e-books and audi-books, and online readings for my class.

     In the middle of the night, I wake up crying because I miss my students and worry about how they're doing.

     Teachers are not sitting back relaxing and having a vacation. We're reworking the problem trying desperately to find a solution that fits all students. Because if you came into my class you would see that a cookie cutter, one size fits all scenario will not work. I have students who read from 2nd grade level to 7th grade level. I have some who grasp math quickly and others who struggle with basic math facts. I have visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, etc. I have special education students in my class too. So I'm working hard to find lessons and online platforms to support all of them. Plus, you need to take in the whole picture of the whole child. Many of these complaining parents come from a place of privilege. I need to find a way to help students who might have to watch younger siblings while parents work or who have other home life issues or emotional issues due to divorce, death, etc.. But I am not resting and sipping on margaritas in the back yard.

     No one goes into teaching believing it's an easy job. It's a crazy, stressful roller coaster of emotional and mental challenges. We do it because we love helping children. My students are at the forefront of my thoughts. I work myself to the bone to make sure they get the best of me, and that they know that I care about them deeply.

     Moreover, the 45 minutes Monday - Thursday is just the engagement time. I know I will personally have more than 45 minutes of work assigned for math and ELA that the students will be doing independently. The engagement time is for going over the lesson via Zoom or Google Classroom so the kids can ask questions and you can get feedback of how they're doing. No one is doing a three hour Zoom lesson, it's not practical for anyone. It's here's the instructions, here's the lesson, okay now how did you do, and let's now practice this based on what I just heard from your answers and questions. What child do you know who can pay attention to a Zoom meeting for that long? I get fidgety. We will assign independent work that they can do over the course of several hours that figure in breaks and attention spans.

     So please, until you have canvassed every teacher in our district and then made a thorough, logical, non-biased study of every single district in the United States, get off your high horse and accept these are unprecedented times and your kids will learn something. Though please remember that you are their first role model, and how you conduct yourself and talk to people is what they will emulate.