Teacher's Request
a teacher friend of mine posted this on Facebook, I post here without comment (none is needed):
Something I want to point out to everyone. I have seen countless posts from parents about how educators failed their kid in the spring because of “insert reason here” and frankly, I’m tired of it. Stop! Just stop!
Last spring educators were in EMERGENCY mode. School districts were in EMERGENCY mode. Teachers do not learn how to teach virtually when they're going to school for their degrees, they are prepared for IN PERSON teaching.
On March 13, 2020 at noon teachers were told that schools were shutting down and they were expected to provide instruction to their students virtually. This was a FRIDAY! For many educators this was a half day. No one expected to be out for the rest of the year. Teachers were shocked, they were worried, afraid and confused about how to provide education to their students.
From the posts I’m seeing don’t take into account that teachers are people. They have families. They are affected by COVID19, just as much as their students families are. Stop blaming educators, please. Just stop. Many teachers did not have any experience with online platforms or teaching virtually. They had to learn how to teach their curriculum online while taking care of their families, managing their stress, anxiety and fear alongside their students, experience grief at feeling disconnected from their students and deal with their community being upset that the online schooling their child was receiving wasn’t perfect.
Now, we’re going into a new year with the knowledge that school will be virtual. With this comes a new onslaught of parents already complaining about school being virtual. No educator, from the custodians to the principal want to be online. But, there is something bigger going on.
Is it going to be hard, yes. Will it be frustrating at times for kids to learn, yes. Will teachers feel frustrated at having to teach virtually, yes. Please spare your rants about how your kids teachers failed them last spring.
Everyone was failed last spring because school was closed.
Educators have been working tirelessly since March 13, 2020 to better themselves as they take on yet ANOTHER role within education to serve YOUR student(s). They want to teach and do the best that they can. Your student(s) will take your attitude about online learning and be imprinted by it and it can dictate how they view their upcoming school year.
It is totally okay to be frustrated, worried or anxious about the upcoming year. It is okay to state your concerns, but bashing educators who were expected to provide the same level of education online that they do in person overnight was and is ridiculous. I like to think that everyone understands that is just not possible. Could it be better? Of course. And you can bet that educators everywhere from the top down are working this summer to prepare themselves to improve their virtual teaching skills.
So if everyone could extend some grace towards educators when you start to bad mouth the effort to provide education on platforms teachers were learning in real time, while also teaching their own kids, living through a pandemic, and worrying about how to do their jobs, that would be great!
Thanks for reading! Rant over!
