Long post, but I’m done being quiet. This isn’t intended for debate of how to do a hybrid style of school or anything else, this is a statement from a teacher who loves her students and just wants to be able to do her job safely.
Please understand that teachers are not requesting distance learning, or a hybrid approach because we are lazy, we see the danger and can’t protect our kids or ourselves from it if we go back to the old style of school. Looking back on the last few months I can’t tell you that it is far harder to teach in online or even hybrid form than what we did 6 months ago (I miss those days); any of my family or friends can tell you how many extra hours I put in trying to make learning accessible and interesting for my students the last few months of school. At that time we were praised for our hard-work and tenacity to try to still reach every child. Now we are being called lazy and selfish because we simply don’t want to put our student back in a physical classroom where they and countless others can get hurt. I can’t protect them physically from this virus like I would a physical attack; I can’t lock the door and keep them safe, but I can voice the belief that to do this safely I will have to work harder and longer than ever before. I will have to spend 5-6 hours a week making phone calls and sending emails to parents to check in on their student who missed class. I will lose time with my kiddos who are in clubs and come to after school tutoring that I run. Do I wish we could go “Back to Normal”? With every fiber of my being, but not if it means risking the lives of my students and the staff I work with. Losing 1 child to this either in death or because of some other complication is too many when we have the ability to protect them from it by working a bit harder.
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