To the editor:

I am a Barrington Public School teacher and the president of the local teacher’s union and my life, like everyone’s' has changed dramatically with the onset of the coronavirus. I think it’s important for the public to understand exactly what a day in the life of a teacher looks like now. Before I do that, I would like to publicly thank all the parents who have already sent encouraging messages, texts, emails, etc. to show their support and gratitude to our teachers. I believe you make up the overwhelming majority of parents who believe in us and support what we are doing. Your encouragement drives our desire to work hard to make distance learning successful, so again, thank you!

So what does a day in the life of a teacher look like in the midst of COVID 19? 

6:00 AM -

Rise & Shine! Jump in the shower, dress for the day, eat a bite, clean up the kitchen, throw in a load of laundry, take care of family members, turn on the computer.

6:45 AM -

Read emails sent from administration, students & parents and respond. Comply with any new directives regarding distance learning and Zoom updates. This alone can take over an hour.

7:45 AM -

Make sure all the elements of my lessons for the day are still available digitally.

Check Google Classroom for accurate postings.

Check for messages from students on Google Classroom and respond.

Check Aspen and update when needed.

Check Google Calendar for any upcoming meetings.

Test Zoom settings and meetings & create meetings for all classes.

Review & correct any student work from prior lessons or assessments

Post any new assignments to Google Classroom.

Create retakes for any students who did not pass the first assessment.

8:42 AM  -

Attend 504 Zoom meeting with parents, cluster teachers, guidance counselor, and administration.

9:35 AM -

Grade level meeting, cluster meeting, parent meeting, meetings with special education teachers, speech teachers, etc. (There are any number of meetings that can occur at this time.)

10:28  - 11:18 AM Period W Social Studies

Take class attendance. This sounds easy, but it takes about 5-7 minutes depending when every student appears in the Zoom meeting.

Check on the social emotional state of the students. I try to say every student’s name at least once during the period to check in.

Start the lesson on the Great Depression and what it means to be resilient. Hmmmm… So many parallels to what is happening today!

Assign a task and put students in breakout rooms.

Most classes have 6-7 breakout rooms with at last 4 students in each room.

Join every breakout room and check in to assess understanding. Correct misconceptions when needed and join another room.

Close all breakout rooms and come back together.

I share my screen at this point to demonstrate for students in real time how the completed the task looks.

Students share what they learned and corrections are made where needed.

New task assigned and class ends. I try to make sure there is time during the class to complete the new task so no HW is needed but unless we have a longer block of time, this sometimes is not possible.

Post class attendance to admin.

11:21 - 12:11 Am Period A Social Studies (Please note that there are 3 minutes between classes for bathroom breaks, stretching, etc.)

The above procedure repeats with adjustments for student needs.

12:14 - 12:38 PM Lunch

12:41- 1:30 PM Period V Social Studies

Process repeats with adjustments for student needs.

1:32- 2:22 PM   Period E Social Studies

Process repeats with adjustments for student needs.

2:25 - 3:15 PM  Office Hours, FAST (Flexible Academic Support Time)

This is where students who are struggling get extra help, take retakes, ask questions about assignments, etc.

3:15 - 6:00 PM -

Create new lesson for tomorrow depending on how much was completed today. (This can take hours.)

Go to Newsela, Discovery Ed, Wit & Wisdom, etc. for ideas, help with digital lessons and materials.

Correct all assignments turned in on Google Classroom

Enter scores on Aspen

Email parents and students about missing work.

Reach out to students for whom I am their “Trusted Adult.”

Watch various videos and tutorials on Zoom components.

Practice with new Zoom components.

Meet with cluster teachers to address any concerns with students, create plans for upcoming dates, coordinate assessment times and dates, help one another with various digital complexities.

6:00 PM -

Make dinner for family

Connect with family members at home or  via Facetime if not at home

Clean up kitchen

Transfer laundry to the dryer and put in another load.

Pay bills

8:00PM - ???

Continue grading, making lesson plans and preparing for the next day.

As one teacher put it to me this week, “Zoom teaching is hard & exhausting! It’s not the same as in-person teaching. It requires different planning and different use of time. Things that work in person, don’t work as well online.” 

The best analogy I can make is this:

We have all heard on the news that companies like Ford are re-tooling to go from making cars and trucks to making ventilators. This is the same for teachers. I have been teaching for 43 years and I have to completely retool to teach this way. My entire tool set had to change virtually overnight and I feel like a first year teacher. I feel like I am letting my students down. I feel inadequate. I feel lost. These feelings dominate my psyche even though I am supported 100 percent by my administrators and my fellow teachers. I think I am not alone in feeling this way. 

This week we are changing our schedule to offer less screen time for teachers and students. This resulted from an outcry from teachers, parents and students. We are all (teachers and everyone else) juggling work, families, and an entirely different way of teaching and working. We are all working harder than we have ever worked .  This is not perfect but not one teacher of the 300 I represent has contacted me to complain. Not one! I will say that I have had teachers contact me to say how defeated they feel by some of the very negative postings on Facebook. I hope that this letter will generate more positive postings. I hope this will result in parents reaching out to teachers as a sign of support. And most importantly, I hope this helps people understand what a day in the life of a teacher entails.

Respectfully,

Mary Roberts, NBCT

Barrington

Ms. Roberts is president of NEAB.