This current lockdown was pretty much inevitable. Once Christmas was done and dusted and the Covid stats headed in a continuous upward direction I think we all knew where things were heading. With schools closing their doors to the majority of pupils, there has been endless talk about schools and education. Understandably too. School closures are never a decision taken lightly due to the impact that they have on student’s emotional and mental welfare, their education and on family life as a whole. It is a huge deal but in my opinion (and I am by no means a medical expert), a necessary evil considering the frankly ridiculous number of cases and deaths we were seeing daily in the UK after Christmas.
It still saddens me to see how negatively people in this country react towards teachers. We saw it during the first lockdown and sadly it has reared its head again this time. Claims that teachers are lazy, avoiding doing their job, having an easy life at home are simply untrue. Many teachers and school staff were worried about the risk of Covid spreading in schools, particularly secondary schools and quite rightly so. Even with the most stringent rules and routines in place, it is really hard to stay away from the children you teach or support and you worry just as much about catching the virus as you do passing it on. Add to the mix how difficult it would be to stop kids from mixing outside their ‘bubbles’ and it is easy to see why schools could play a big part in spreading the virus.
As for the whole ‘teachers are lazy’ thing, I have met many teachers in my lifetime; teachers of my own kids and colleagues in school. Trust me when I say that if you want a job where you can be lazy, teaching is not it. Teaching is all encompassing, with no time to sit down during the day, lunch and break times often spent doing duties or helping students and plenty of work to do in the evenings, weekends and holidays. Lockdown is no different. Suddenly teachers have had to embrace technology and are setting and presenting lessons online. On top of that is the planning, marking, keeping track of students progress and work submissions. There are still reports to write, meetings to attend and parents evenings too. Yes, they might be able to do this sat in the comfort of their own homes, but doing everything online is intense.
My husband is a teacher and for his online lessons he has to use three screens. One laptop is open for Microsoft Teams where is is ‘teaching’ online lessons and engaging with his students. A second laptop is open with the work set for each lesson and his phone is also in play fielding emails from students and parents. It is exhausting and he has repeatedly said that he would much rather be in school and cannot wait to get back to it.
As I work as a teaching assistant and a language assistant in a secondary school, I am in school full-time supporting the students who are coming in for Covid school – the children of key-workers and vulnerable students. There are a good number of students in every day, all split into year group bubbles around the school and teaching staff are on a rota to also support and supervise the students in school along with members of the Senior Leadership team also in to help keep the school running. This is the blueprint for many schools at the moment and it is exhausting for both the staff in school and working from home.
The one thing that I have been impressed by during this lockdown is how teachers are using technology so well to deliver lessons. For my own children, the first lockdown was a definite case of work set online to be submitted online with a few live lessons for the one in secondary school towards the end. My daughter who was in primary, had no live lessons at all and the work set for her and if I’m honest, the work set wasn’t really very inspiring and involved many, many pages of printing. Having two parents who are teachers, she was lucky as we researched ideas and found resources to put together our own lessons and kept her active and occupied. I was a secondary school teacher and from day one of that lockdown, I was in awe of primary teachers and their ability to manage so many different subject areas every day.
This lockdown has seen a lot more live lessons with teachers really using technology in a number of different ways to try and engage and inspire their students and it is amazing to see the work that teachers are putting in to do that. Not only are they planning great lessons but there are activities that are done on and offline to consolidate the work and check understanding. I follow many teachers on Twitter and Facebook as I love finding new tips and ideas to use with my own students and I have been blown away by how amazing the teaching community online are. They share ideas, resources and support during this tricky time and it is inspiring to see.
Ultimately, every single teacher and member of staff want students back in school. We all do, not just the parents. Not only are these students missing out on crucial parts of their education but they are missing out on the social aspect of school which is equally, if not more important. We will get back to that point but until then, I think we should be praising schools and their staff for the efforts that they are making to ensure our kids are still getting some sort of education even with the schools being closed. A simple email of thanks or a word of positive feedback during a parents evening goes a long way and takes no effort at all.
I think teachers are doing a great job. When I hear my daughter’s lessons, I’m in awe of how upbeat and engaged they are at all times. It must be relentless for five lessons a day. I don’t know how anyone can accuse teachers of being lazy!
It is interesting to read about what it is like from a teacher’s point of view.
I am in favour of kids going back to school when it is safe for everyone involved – pupils, teachers and families. My kids miss seeing their friends and miss the sport, but I think they are still receiving a very good education.
Sarah MumofThree World recently posted…American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins