I had a feeling this day would come.
For several weeks, since the closures of our school doors, we've seen hilarious tweets and posts joking about the typical American parent attempting to work their own job, while simultaneously teaching their student, under the guise of "homeschooling." We saw parents whose patience was tried to the breaking point. We saw parents humorously joking about suspending or expelling their student. We saw parents making light of a dark situation. And, it was appreciated. Teachers the world over were lifted with these laughs and our hearts went out to these parents because we know - WE KNOW - what they are dealing with. For a moment in time, it seemed that our society was finally feeling the weight of what a teacher carries everyday. We felt the kindred camaraderie form between parents to teachers, and we were grateful.
Now, the tide is turning. I can feel the demonizing of public education starting to rear it's ugly head once again.
There seems to be a recurring question posed to myself and colleagues from the parents we are working with. I cannot speak to the intent or the motivation behind the question, but I can attempt to answer it. The question is this: "Why are teachers still getting paid?"
First of all, we're in an agreement with our district that says that if we're meeting the conditions of the agreements we are to get paid. It's called a contract.
Second of all, please don't act like we asked for this. We didn't. This was as unexpected to us as it was to anyone else. There was nothing we could do to prevent school closures from happening. This is a government mandate that we are following. Teachers witness the power of the collective on a daily basis, so perhaps we are more equipped to do our part for the greater good, but that doesn't mean we had any more indication of what was to come of the landscape of education.
Third of all, we are in just as uncomfortable a position as other occupations might be. By nature, teachers are a planning people. We have contingencies for contingencies in the classroom, and we prepare for every possible situation we can fathom. Schools closing overnight was not something we ever could have prepared for. To speak from my personal experience, my colleagues and I had two brief after-school meetings with building administration prior to the closures of our schools, and the entire premise of a shutdown was treated as a long-shot hypothetical scenario. With one day's notice, we had to change our entire methodologies of teaching. We have been called upon to force everything we know about sound teaching into an electronic format; or, even worse, a piece of paper. We are navigating waters through which we have never before had to swim, and we are doing it while simultaneously teaching ourselves <I>how</I> to swim.
With those three things in mind, please acquaint yourself with what teachers are doing during these moments when our school buildings our closed.
-We are calling approximately 20 families per week to check in, ask ridiculous mandated questions about technology, and provide information on the next steps.
-We are reaching out to students who we know might be having a difficult time right now, and are trying to connect them with the necessary resources they need to make it through this trauma. Under normal circumstances, we make every effort to serve as points of stability and consistency in our students' lives; as far as we're concerned, that duty doesn't evaporate due to unforeseen circumstances!
-We are in weekly staff meetings, trying to wrap our heads around the plans that the state and our district has determined for us.
-We are in weekly content meetings, trying to come up with ways to best deliver instruction to every child.
-We are fielding texts and phone calls from families and students any hour of the day.
-We are creating materials from the ground up.
-We are providing materials for students in a format that is completely foreign to most of us.
-We are in virtual classroom training for how to use technology we have rarely been exposed to, and are now expected to master within six hours.
-We are teaching ourselves how to use technological platforms because the district is funded for one person to teach educators how to use those platforms, and that individual simply doesn't have enough time to teach every teacher what they need to know to be successful in coming weeks.
-We are responding to emails hourly.
-We are trying to establish social media platforms to stay connected to our students, many of which none of us have ever used before.
-We are trying to maintain our own family lives, our marriages, our kids, while devoting the vast majority of our day to our chosen profession.
Let me be clear: our hearts are broken. They break a million different ways, a million times a day. From worrying about our kids who we know are stuck at home - not safe at home - to anticipating the next obstacle that will be hurled at us. We are frustrated. We are anxious. We are concerned and confused, too. We are trying to solve problems that we have never had to solve before - indeed, challenges that are literally without precedent. And, we will solve them. We will continue to wake up and figure out inventive ways to keep learning happening. We will continue to fight for what we know is best for our students. We will continue to trim our sails, time after time, to meet whatever squalls that are sure to come our way. We will do what is reasonably asked, what is <I>unreasonably</I> asked, and then some. Because, that's what we do.
Yes, our school buildings are closed, but our teachers are not. They are working hard for our students, your student(s), every day of the week, despite - and sometimes in spite of - the implications that we aren't doing anything because there's no building in which to report. Our proverbial plates are just as full working from home as they were during every normal school every day of every typical year. So, why are teachers still receiving pay? Because the location has changed, but the work has not. I assure you; we are earning our pay.
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