Health and Wellness Community

I wish people realize the long hours' teachers work even after they stop teaching. The planning, creating stimulating and engaging lessons, calling and emailing parents/students, setting/attending daily conferences with parents and students, maintaining a balanced personal life, and dealing with the pandemic are exhausting. We still have to wake up with a smile on our faces, so our students can have some normalcy.

We cry alot

Stop pushing teachers to teach like it's normal; while allowing the students to be in a global pandemic. Teachers are humans too, with families that are affected. “…turning your ankle hurts like hell, even if you’re a superhero.” ― Christopher Moore

My days are endless. Being at school set boundaries. At home families expect answers to questions at all hours. There are no limits. It’s exhausting!

Speaking as an older educator who began my career using a ditto machine and rubber cement, this Google Classroom, Zoom, Go Guardian, etc. and all the technology knowledge you need to know, to present lessons and keep our students safe on line, is overwhelming. Some of us had a week of technology training and many of us are still watching YouTube tutorials to improve our performance. May we offer each other grace.

It has been more work to prepare for lessons and to try to meet the needs of each student when in a virtual setting. It is even more tough when we don't know what next week will bring. Working week from week waiting if our school will open up is not healthy. I wish we had a set date to "re-assess" instead of waiting week to week. It's tough on everybody involved.

I wish people knew that I am dead serious when I say I have not taken a whole day off from school work since the start of the semester!! The demands of building content online (while learning a new LMS) have been crippling!

I spend so much of my day answering tech questions or trouble shooting for students, helping solve problems that would not be happening if we were in school.

The increase in students and families in crisis, and struggling with mental health issues and concerns.

I wish people knew that educators are doing the very best they can. That they love their students and their jobs. That the pandemic has made them afraid of their job at times. That "traditional" schools may never return and that that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Well not only are you trying to find a way to engage with students while at the same time keeping your children awake in their remote class. I might have to do a tik tok about this.

Teachers' work load has quadrupled with the addition of caring for their personal families at the same time. This leaves even less time for self-care than before.

Engagement in the virtual world

I feel incompetent at my job. I am afraid of letting my kids down

We are doing our best, working hard, and love all students we work with!

I wish people understood that teaching right now is NOTHING like I have ever done. I am spending 12 to 18 hours a day learning new technology, creating new curriculum and then differentiating it, then hours spent tracking down students and convincing them to engage, changing the assignments to try to meet their demands so they might do something, hours recording and documenting what I have done, then lesson planning for the next few days, communicating with coworkers and families...No one wants this to be what we have to be doing.

Our schools are closing one by one, not because teachers are testing positive but when a single student does it forces a quarantine of anywhere from 4 -8 teachers. Safely staffing our schools has become the reaspon schools are closing. Kids are getting the disease - not to the level of hospitalizations but they are catching it from their friends and family.

It was so when we were teaching live all day then had to come home and prepare lessons and check work for our virtual learners all evening!

Patience and parents to understand parents all the work that teachers do everyday

How much is required of us compared to before.

I am sure that all the teachers are working the double in this time. It's unbeliebale but I am working around 13 hours a day. Saturdays and Sunday I do it too, about 3-4 hours. I feel tiered.

There is so much to do now for school since I have virtual learners as well as those in my classroom. Also kids come and go in and out to be quarantined so we always have kids trying to catch up, make up, re-do, get materials, need re-teaching, etc etc.

I wish others knew the emotional work educators are coping with to be present for all of our students.

It is a consuming effort to plan and deliver modified instruction, one that must take into account COVID-19 protocols, remote/online planning and teaching, brick and mortar teaching, that ensures differentiation and rigor are not compromised.

As a school counselor I see the stresses that educators face daily trying to teach in-person and virtually, and then trying to keep up with their own children's educational workloads. This health and wellness community is an awesome place with great resources.

I wish they knew about the hours and hours we spend grading and prepping for classes.

I would like people to know how hard teachers are working during the pandemic. Teachers work hard anyway, but the pandemic has completely turned education on its head, and we have had to change the way we teach entirely. And we are doing it the best we can, with few resources in some cases, and with little support in some cases, and all while people are mad at us and saying we aren't working at all. Teachers are on the "frontline," too - we may just not be healing patients or delivering packages, but we are preparing our students for the future.

Because we are doing all of the things, we are stretched more thinly these days to accommodate all options. We are working constantly to meet the needs of students in person as well as online. Please give us grace and support! It is new to everyone, and is not ideal. We didn’t create the situation, but we are doing our best to make it better. We are in it for the kids and in it for you, and we’d like you to be in it for us as well!

I've been struggling with managing all the apps just like the students. I don't feel like I can be frustrated or upset with them when I'm also getting totally overwhelmed with all.the.clicking.

We are dedicated, caring, driven professionals who are giving our best to do best for every student.

I wish others knew how much we really miss being in the classroom too. That it's not that we don't want to work or do our jobs, we are scared as well.

Educators are stressed and exhausted from the constant e-mails, text messages, voice mails, day-to-day practices, and teaching while learning this new normal.

We are exhausted! Everyone is doing the best that we can given the circumstances. Just because teachers are advocating for a safe return doesn't mean they are lazy and not wanting to teach. Distance learning is much more work than having our students in the classroom every day. We would much rather see them face to face! We also have families at home that we would like to keep safe.

Everything about teaching online, is challenging and we all keep trying our very best.

Teachers are working hard to make the best lessons they can considering the circumstances. It's frustrating when students may not be able to join their meetings at the scheduled times due to so many uncontrolled situations. We care for the wellbeing of the students and their families. It's important that we take extra care of ourselves now too.

I know in our community it has almost become parents vs. teachers. So many parents and community members think that all teachers want to be on virtual because it's easier. #1 - it's not! (At least not when done right!) and #2 - most teachers really do want students to be in school!

In some ways virtual learning has made us become better planners but it has also made it more difficult to make on the spot changes or adaptations that are often needed. I find it much more difficult to do this in a virtual setting as well.

I wish they knew and appreciate the many hours we put into doing our jobs to bring our lessons to life online.

We are parents, too. We are concerned we are being poor caretakers of our own biological children.

I wish people knew how hard it is to teach students that are in the classroom at the same time as we are teaching ones at home. I feel so bad for those that are fully online (not in hybrid) because they never get the extra attention that those in the room receive. I wish I could give them more time and energy, but there just isn't any left to spare!!