Those Who Can....Teach

I have a lot of friends who are teachers or former teachers...and this post is dedicated to the ones still on the job and beginning a new and challenging school year.

First to those who will actually be entering classrooms: Stay safe. Stay healthy. You face a multitude of new problems--can you effectively communicate through a facemask? Are your eyes enough to transmit your meaning and emotion? Are the students' eyes sufficient to tell you when they are struggling or really getting it? How will it feel when you want to be close enough to a student to offer encouragement but social distancing prevents it? Do you want to be the COVID-19 cop, constantly enforcing mask and distancing requirements? Isn't maintaining order and discipline enough of a challenge under normal circumstances?

And now to those who will, for the time being, teach remotely: Stay calm. Stay focused. Yes, you had a six-to-eight-week trial run on this in the spring...but that was all on the fly and no one could realistically expect perfection. But now, I suspect they will. Students, parents, administrators will expect you to be on the ball, ready to deal with all the vagaries of the internet, different household requirements, and communication without contact. While you won't have the obstacle of masks, you will instead have the obstacle of long-distance communication. Is the screen subtle enough to let you read a student's expression? Is there enough time to deal with all the questions in an on-line environment? Can you manage a private conversation with a student when required?

Finally, to the parents and public in general: Don't grouse. Yes, this will not be the best way to teach (no matter in person or by computer). But it's what we have to work with right now. There will be those among the public who are certain that this is simply a way for teachers to make their jobs easier (I've already seen postings and such to that effect). Believe me, it is not. I do not know a single teacher who wouldn't prefer to be starting school exactly the same way they did in September 2019. Running things this way is meant to protect not only teachers, students and staff, but all of us--it prevents a whole lot of possibly infectious people from circulating in the wider community.

Once again, to all of you: Stay safe; stay healthy; stay calm; stay focused.