What’s it like to be a Teacher in a Global Pandemic?

As everyone keeps saying, this year has been like no other. The methods of teaching and learning have changed; everybody talks about how the students are feeling, but not the teachers. How are the teachers dealing with this?

Mr. Walsh, a high school teacher from a neighboring district, says participation has been a challenge since school started back up. “Statistically speaking, the more students you have in a classroom, the more students you have sharing their thoughts and ideas. Between the shy kids, students feeling uncomfortable with masks, and oddly arranged classroom seating, myself and other teachers have had to be creative in the way we foster participation these days.” With students at home keeping their cameras off or pointed to the ceiling, teachers are feeling alone and are struggling to get students to engage in class. 

Many teachers have admitted that it was hard to adapt to these new learning changes. Without all of their students in class, they had to make adjustments to the way they teach. Mrs. Legge, a gym teacher here at Harborfields says, “...we are very limited in what we can offer because of distancing guidelines and not being able to use a lot of equipment.” She explained that there were many changes the gym teachers had to make this year. They had to take on the stress of creating safe activities as well as managing more classes to keep up with social distancing, “Physical Education is a tough one because during a regular school year, we have A and B day classes so instead of having 5 classes each, we have ten classes. Now with the hybrid, those classes are split in two leaving us with 20 classes to manage.”

Mrs. Rottkamp, a photography and art teacher at HF says she also had to make changes to adapt to this new way of teaching. “There is 3 times more planning and after 20 years of teaching I feel like I'm starting all over again.” In her photography class, she had to make changes to the projects students do in class, “I have had to alternate which classes get cameras and assign individual cameras to individual students. So one class will work in Photoshop for a few weeks while the other class focuses (pun intended) on taking photographs with the DSLR camera, then the classes switch. It has also been challenging trying to teach the students at home while simultaneously teaching the students in a class.”

All of the teachers interviewed were asked what they wished students knew about how they’re dealing with the situation. Mrs. Legge said, “I really want them to know that I miss the conversations and just seeing them all the time in class. I dislike that I am not getting to know the incoming freshmen like I usually would.” Mrs. Rottkamp admitted she misses her students and knows other teachers miss theirs just as much, “I would like students to know that as teachers we want to see them, preferably in person. But even when they are remote it's nice to see their faces. As much as we enjoy looking at their ceilings and admiring their ceiling fans it would be nice to see their face, not just a quarter of their foreheads. I miss seeing my students; I have a nice rapport with them and I like to joke around.” 

Many teachers feel it is hard to build a relationship with their students with a screen between them. Mrs. Damadeo, a Spanish teacher here at HF said, “The most challenging part has been getting to know my students and being able to assess whether or not they are OK when I am only able to see many of them on a screen or with a mask.”

Something the students might not realize is how lonesome our teachers are. Mrs. Akbar, who teaches math here at Harborfields says, “With all the changes that have taken place, something I wish my students knew is how lonely teaching feels on most days. What keeps me going as a teacher is not the math (ok, maybe a little), but the connections I make with my students, the daily conversations, the hustle and bustle of students in the hallway during passing time and entering my classroom, and greeting my students at my classroom door with a smile and a ‘Hi, how are you doing today?’”

Testing has also become an issue among many teachers, Mrs. Akbar explained she had to come up with a way to give exams, “One of the biggest adjustments that I have had to make is regarding giving tests/quizzes. As a math teacher, all my assessments up until now have been traditional pencil/paper due to the importance of showing written work and mathematical steps to a problem. It is very time consuming to create virtual assessments that include many diagrams/graphs/charts and to make sure I know who is in school/remote on given days in case last minute adjustments need to be made.” 

Without a full classroom, teachers have started to realize how much they depend on human interaction and feedback. Many recalled that they took advantage of the time spent with their students back when school was normal, and they wish the same as students, that school returns to the way it used to be. They’ve taken on a lot of stress this year. Perhaps students should check in on their teachers to let them know their effort is appreciated.