Teaching during Covid

I spent the last few months reading social media and listening to people in real life talk about teachers.  These people, none of them teachers, were saying things like,

"Breaks over teachers, time to get back to work!"

"You are an essential worker, get over yourself and embrace it!"

"You just had five months off, what are you complaining about?"

"Why are teachers so lazy that they don't want to work?"

And this is what I did- I listened to these words.  I absorbed them.  I internalized them.  And I allowed these words to hurt me.  I allowed these people to affect my perception of myself and allowed these people to make me angry.  I allowed myself to respond to their comments.  I allowed myself to spend my precious energy on this negativity. 

And then I realized something that a dear friend has been saying to me for over a year.  She says something to the affect of, "People don't understand what we do.  We have to get our validation from each other, and if other people want to appreciate us, that is just a bonus."

I was reading "Teach Like a Pirate" by Dave Burgess, and he basically said the same thing.  And after hearing it from two different sources, I had the great "Aha!" moment.  

In teaching, as I'm sure in most professions, there is a reason you do it.  There is a "why".  Obviously, in teaching, the why is not for the money.  My personal "why" is for the children.  I believe that every single child deserves to have someone believe in them and encourage them to be their best.  

I am a teacher

I would jump in front of a bus for one of my students

I would stand between them and a gun

I would run through fire to get them out of a burning building

(We practice these things and real teachers do them)

Every day, I check that they are clean, fed, and rested

Every day, I make sure their medical needs are met and check for signs of illness

Every day, I check for signs of neglect or abuse or trafficking

Every day, I protect their privacy

Every day, I teach them skills like shaking hands and looking in my eye

Every day, I make sure each child's individualized plan is followed

Every day, I engage them

Every day, I say their name

Every day, I make them feel safe

and loved

and wanted

and special

Every day, I teach them

I listen to them

I speak to them

Every day, I advocate for them

Every day.

And now I teach full-time in person learning

full-time virtual learning

and some hybrid version of these two

I am learning a gazillion new acronyms and how to use more technology

how to teach from 6 feet away

wearing a mask

unable to hug these children that I love

teaching them without even seeing them.

From now until it ends.

Every day.

And after all of this, some people are going to complain.  Judge. Hate.

But do you know what?

I don't have time for haters.  

I don't have time to even read the comments.

I have students to teach

and a world to change.

Image credits: 

1. https://www.economist.com/international/2020/03/19/how-covid-19-is-interrupting-childrens-education. 

2. Me