So, how's it going? I really mean it..... How are you? Maybe you're someone who has been working as an essential worker throughout this entire pandemic or maybe you're someone who had to work from home for months on end with kids at home or without kids at home or maybe you took time off to be home because your kids were home. Maybe you're someone who got furloughed and still hasn't been able to return to working or maybe you're someone who got laid off. Maybe you are someone who has someone living in your household who was/is an essential worker and you had to navigate your life and time without them home or with them home. Maybe you're someone who is retired, who hasn't had much to do everyday or maybe your someone who was pushed into retirement because, hey if you could retire now under these circumstances, it may just be my opinion but why wouldn't you? Or maybe you're a stay at home parent with young kids and couldn't go anywhere for months and still can't. Maybe you have grown kids who are trying to navigate these crazy times themselves, trying to decide how they should start their freshman year at college. Maybe you're a parent trying to decide if your Kindergartener should start their first year of school in a hybrid setting or remotely or maybe you're a teacher trying to figure out if you should go back to a classroom, teach remotely, or take a leave of absence. Maybe you are someone who is still hesitant to go to populated places or be around people, despite certain places opening up. Maybe you're someone who has experienced this virus first hand, whether it be yourself or someone in your household. Maybe you're someone who has actually lost someone to this tragic virus, because unfortunately there are thousands of you out there. Maybe you're someone who had to close their business due to the horrific economy. Maybe you are someone who lives far away from any family and therefore, can't travel to see them or if you do, you have to quarantine before and after. Maybe you're someone who had an entirely different illness who had to keep up being treated while everything was being shut down. Maybe you are someone who was just dealing with normal life scenarios and then this pandemic hit, making everything so much harder. There are so many ways lives could've gone these past several months and there are so many ways lives are continuing to go now. As I described so many above, I'm sure there are more that I left out. I'll tell you a little bit about me, but I'm wondering, which of these are you?
Me? I am a wife and a mother of two boys, as some of you may know, ages 6 years old and almost 2 and a half years old. Our 6 year old finished out his kindergarten year virtually. Our two year old had just started going to daycare and mommy and me classes when the world shut down, and just like that, then he was home again. My husband was home. I was home. We were all home. I am a breast cancer survivor, just recently been said No Evidence of Disease, but I still go for treatments. I went all throughout the pandemic. We quarantined. We stayed away from everyone for months. Aside from my home, it was my oncologists office where I felt the safest.
We stayed in for months. We eventually "merged our bubbles" with my parents and my in-laws, because I knew we were all on the same page with what we were or were not doing. And that was fine for me. We zoomed with friends and other family members from time to time, arranged car parades for birthdays, we waved to friends walking and driving by from a distance, and we constantly played outside. We were fine. And you know what, we still are fine. And as we start the school year back up again, with our 6 year old starting first grade virtually and for how long, we don't know, we will continue to be fine. Because we are safe, we are healthy, we have each other, and kids are resilient. I know that first hand because my 6 year old was only 4 and a half years old when his mother was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. He saw me at my worst and he was okay. And he still is okay. And he will continue to be okay. Because we as parents can continue to give him what he needs, safely, all from the comfort of our home. And THE MOST important part... WE ARE ALIVE.
Whoever you are, just know that I see you. I hear you. I get you. And you are not alone. I see you struggling to make decisions..... decisions that could be life or death, decisions that could be life long businesses failed, and decisions that could result in financial hardships. I see you. I see you worried about your children being able to succeed in whichever path you choose, or whichever path is chosen for you. I hear you advocating for your rights and for your family. And from my perspective, which really means nothing in the grand scheme of things, I see that the most common trait that we all share, is the ability to fight for what we believe in. I just wish there was more common ground on what we all believe is right. Obviously many of us believe in different things or in different ways that things should be happening. Masks, no masks. School in person or remote. To keep social distancing or to not. To visit places that are reopening or not. It's all tough, especially right now where it seems like our country has been and still is falling apart at the seams. Who do we believe? Who is doing the right thing? Who really knows the right way to fix everything? It just seems like every which way we turn, there's just absolute craziness with no end in sight. But the question I have is why does this all have to be so hard? If we all want an end to this virus, if we want businesses to open, and our children to return to school... if we want to be able to go shopping in stores without masks and to be able to eat inside restaurants again..... if we want to be able to travel to other states without having to quarantine afterwards.... then why aren't we all working together to make this happen?? Let's talk about schools then.....
I have been working with kids for the better part of 20+ years or so. Starting in my early teens babysitting, to working in day camps for consecutive years, to working in child care, to teaching in public school...working with children in many different aspects and age levels is all I've ever done. I believe in children. I believe that they can all flourish, in any given circumstance, with the correct people and the right tools to help guide them in all learning areas - mentally, emotionally, physically, and socially. As teachers, that's what we are trained to do. We as teachers of any age group, are taught how to reach every single student in our classroom, whether it be a classroom of 6 toddlers, 20 fifth graders, or multiple classes of high school students a day, how to reach every. single. student. We have curriculum guides, supplemental resources, trainings on various topics, and so much more. And we take what we learn along with just our plain knowledge, pedagogy, and our own demeanor, and develop a plan for each individual student for every academic subject. Teachers are hard workers. And not because I am one, but teachers are some of the hardest working people I know. Teachers don't become teachers because they need to.... teachers become teachers and educators because they love teaching. They have a passion for educating others and they find their niche in a specific age group.
Let's face it...teachers are ragged on because it's said that they work shorter daily hours, have summers off, have days off throughout the year, and they work with children so how hard could that be. The funny thing is, and I know from experience, that teachers don't work daily short hours because most of whom I know and myself included, arrive well before the school day starts, will work through lunch, and will stay well past the kids going home. Just like most other working professionals who get to work early and who might stay at work late. Most teachers I know, and myself included, are always thinking about their students when school is not in session either at night, over the weekends, or during the summer, as in how can we help them better? How can we feed those who don't have breakfast at home or those who don't bring a snack for during the day? How can we reach those who didn't understand the lesson today? What type of fun can we have tomorrow? This week? How is their homework going? I hope they understand what they learned today. What can I do differently tomorrow? And not for the class as a whole, but for each. individual. student. for each. academic lesson. And for everything else that might form a school day that doesn't even pertain to academics. Behaviors, emotions, home life, etc. I can vouch that the list of questions when teachers are not in school go on way more than that.
If you are a working professional in the business world, maybe you give presentations, run meetings or run trainings. When you speak, you are speaking to a room of individuals who all are in your same field or who have some sort of involvement in your area of expertise. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I'm not so sure that the topic at hand when presented, has to be approached in several different ways, in order for your audience to understand it. Do you have to take into consideration about 10-20 different learning styles? Or do you just speak, show a powerpoint, maybe explain a little, and that's it? Because I can assure you, teachers don't have the luxury of presenting information that way. Meeting with each individual student to ensure that they've grasped every single concept taught for the day, for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. That's a lot. And depending on the age group, you get interruptions, distractions, bathroom needs, and other daily issues that arise that you haven't planned for. I see your social media posts about how you NEED your kids out of the house. That you NEED your kids back at school. Why? I'm just asking because we have 20 of them at a time. We love your kids and can't wait to see them every day. We miss your kids.
With all of that being said, why are teachers being viewed now as lazy? I get kids need to socialize. I get it. As I stated earlier, I have two young boys of my own, one of whom is 6 years old and is starting first grade virtually in just a few days and one who is almost 2 and a half years old and will continue to be home. I know my oldest misses socializing with other children and I know my youngest is missing out on things that his older brother got to do when he was our youngest's age, but is it really that bad? I get parents have to work. I get that kids going to school is how parents get the time to go to work, but that cannot all fall on teachers. There are other ways. I see learning pods forming and people who are okay with leaving their homes, offering to tutor or be with children who are virtually learning so their parents can go to work. This is the time when we should all be coming together, to help one another, to use that fight that we all have in common to do what is best for each other. The answer, as we are all seeing, even if we do not agree, is to figure out a way to be inventive for schooling your children when it can't be done in person, reaching them socially as well.
There are a few things I wish some parents could see. One being, as stated above, a teacher is a teacher because he or she LOVES teaching. Loves your children. Why on earth would anything change if your child starts school virtually? A teacher goes to all lengths, as mentioned earlier, to ensure that your children get the most effective education that your child can have. That doesn't change if your child starts remotely. I can assure you, your child's teacher is probably working harder than he or she has ever worked before to make sure that your child doesn't fall behind, is learning and grasping every single concept taught, just as much if not more than if they were all in a classroom together. Another thought I wish parents would see, is that teaching or learning in a classroom is going to be entirely different than in most recent years. You see, the most effective practices in teaching is when students are guided to learn; when students are given various different ways to learn - different seating styles, different learning styles, different everything styles - hence teaching to each individual student. Not sitting at desks for hours on end like students will be doing in just a few days from now. No circle time, no carpet time, no partner work, no one on one help. If students start remotely, it's amazing how much of what is needed in a regular classroom setting, can actually be done virtually. Over a computer, students can work together. Over a computer, students can sit where ever they work best. Students can arrange to work one on one with a teacher. I'm not sure how one on one work will go in a classroom setting when having to be 6 feet apart.
I know everyone is struggling, but if the most important thing is to get our children back to school and for parents to return to work and for businesses to reopen, then why aren't we realizing that putting our children and teachers together right now, might not be the best way to do this? Without the proper testing, how do we know who is infected? Do you know how many times children in classrooms have spiked fevers during the day because they were given a fever reducer in the morning before school started that day? What if those same children are sent to school with a fever reducer in the morning and show no fever at temperature check time in the morning but then come 5 hours later, spike a fever? How do we know it's not Covid related? If you are a working professional in the business world, chances are you have an office, maybe a cubical, maybe you don't have to really associate with anyone. Or maybe the few that you do associate with you can trust to stay home if they don't feel well. Working with children, it's not always that easy. We can't stay in our offices or cubical and mind our own business. There are still just so many unanswered questions and variables that come into play that other professions might not have to contend with.
So if teachers love your children that much and would do anything to keep them safe, as in lockdown drills ( who else is not a teacher by the way and has ever experienced a lockdown drill, needing to keep kids quiet and calm while thinking about where they were going to shove children if this really wasn't a drill?) and any other situation that arises and would go to all lengths to reach your children no matter the circumstances, I just have one question for you...... why don't you love your children's teachers the same way? We don't want anything bad to happen to your children and would never think of putting them in harms way. Why would you want us to put ourselves in harms way? When we have ourselves and kids and significant others and parents and family members, just the same as you might. Why are we being viewed as lazy when we just want to protect ourselves, our kids, our families, and ultimately YOUR KIDS.
Quarantine life has been tough enough. Can't we, for a little bit longer, just hold on and do what we can do to protect one another? Think about World War II.. how many people died, how many people did what they had to do to survive, how many people went above and beyond for those that were trying to be killed, risking their lives as well, as they hid people away from harm. Why can't we just find it within ourselves to save one another so no one else has to die? It shouldn't be about that less could die now than 4 months ago....it shouldn't be acceptable for anyone to die.
So, who's ready to keep protecting each other? Who's ready to see teachers as individuals who deserve respect and don't deserve to have their lives put at risk. Who is ready to see the difference between an "essential workers" job and a teachers job. They should not be viewed the same. Who's ready to come together and help to end this virus so we don't all have to struggle in any capacity anymore?
So, let's stand together. Are you ready??
Want to share your thoughts? Then do so! I'd love to hear from you. What profession are you in and how do you fit into all of this?
As always, be safe everyone!!
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