Teaching During Covid-19

An Update

In January, my first month on medium, I wrote a story about my experience of teaching during a pandemic. Back then, I was just becoming more comfortable with the demands of teaching in a hybrid system and the steep learning curve of new technology to make the hybrid work.

Now, with less of a quarter of the school year to go, I still don’t feel that there is a routine. I have between three and 20 students in class while also teaching two to 22 on zoom at the same time. In some classes the majority of students come to school every day; in others hardly any do.

In addition to that, some students are switching frequently between in-school and e-learning. Then we have students (and teachers) with Covid-19 or quarantined for exposure. Some students with straight-F’s had to come back to school; some have dropped out to attend online schools, and our school stands to lose quite a bit of state funding because of that.

In addition to this, our state is still pushing to move more funds to charter schools. I am all for parents’ choice of sending their children to the best schools for their children, but often students return to us from charter schools and online schools because we just offer more, and better programs.

All of these pending budget cuts worry teachers and administration. Teaching positions may be cut or open ones not filled, so once again I am glad to be financially independent. I am not ready to quit teaching yet, but I can afford to if I must.

While worries over state funding are increasing, worry about Covid-19 has decreased. Few of our students and teachers have had Covid-19, and our state has improved in the number of cases. Many teachers, including me, are fully vaccinated, and everyone over the age of 16 is now eligible for the vaccine.

As a teacher I have another advantage — a good immune system. It is almost a cliche that teachers get sick constantly in the first five years of their career. After that, they have been exposed to (almost) every virus known to man.

I have not missed a day of school yet this year; last year I took a day off for surgery. I have received the (small) attendance stipend for not missing more than three days every year since the school started offering it.

What will happen next year is still somewhat of a mystery. Schools here feel the pressure of online alternatives. It seems there has been a paradigm shift. For next year, our school and others in our area are offering a virtual school alternative. I may agree to teach my dual credit students virtually, but not my other classes. Depending on enrollment, teachers may not have a choice, however.

I have been through many changes since I started teaching high school in 1988. We have had five schedule changes since then, and I taught twelve different classes overall. I survived eight principals and witnessed several (almost complete) turnovers of the teaching staff. There is only one teacher left who has been here longer than I have, and he is retiring.

How many more changes will I welcome — or at least endure? At this point, I am still open to change.