practicing patience and empathy for educators in times of uncertainty

naturally, we are all on our phones way more than we were before COVID19 struck. i usually limit my social media consumption to only one app (instagram!) but have been scrolling through twitter more and more. the other day, i stumbled upon this tweet about online school and it completely broke my heart. the tweet reads "just cancel school cause this online thing not finna work out." i figured, as an educator, i would share my two cents on why tweets like are incredibly inconsiderate to educators worldwide.



the world has shifted drastically in the last few weeks and this shift has impacted every area of life. of course, my personal life has changed since march 13, when my school district officially shut down. however, my job has done a complete 180 that i was, truthfully, very unprepared for.

in the last few weeks alone, teachers - regardless of grade level - have been asked to learn an entirely new method of teaching at the last minute, with little-to-no training, and a severe lack of resources. we are building curriculums from scratch and adapting them to fit an unsteady online platform. we have been told that the platforms we're being pushed to use, whether it's zoom or google meets, are not secure and our classes may be overtaken by hackers and "zoom bombers," who infiltrate meetings and share pornographic or traumatizing material. in addition to the insecurity of these platforms, there will be students who are without internet access or technology and consequently will not be able to learn for the rest of the school year. we are being thrown into this entirely new method unapologetically by administrators and government officials who are pushing for more and more and more from teachers when, oftentimes, we can only give more by sacrificing our mental health and wellbeing.

i feel so unbelievably thankful to have such strong relationships with my students. my kids are genuinely excited to be back in my "class." they miss being in english class, miss being around me, miss being around each other. even for students with stable home lives, teachers are caregivers. we love our children unwaveringly, unapologetically, emphatically, and they feel that love and come to rely on it. teachers are steady figures in our kids' lives and we have been yanked away from them without warning, without giving them any indication of when we'll be back together. i have gotten emails from my students every. single. day. saying how much they miss me and how excited they are to be back together again. my beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, wonderful kids are up for the challenge and ready to navigate this world together, as a team.


so practice patience and empathy for educators during this time. be appreciative and thankful that you have educators who are showing up for you, who are making sure you are continuing to get the best education they can provide in these unprescedented, unsteady times. show up when you're supposed to, do the work you're being asked to do. show up for us, because we are sure as hell showing up for you.

- a.