One of millions of new classrooms that opened this year
Many families have experienced profound loss and/or hardship due to COVID-19, often without access to the support systems that would normally get us through a tough time. The disruption of our routines has resulted in acute awareness of many things we normally take for granted. There might not be a better example of this than a schoolteacher.
There is not a person I know whose life hasn’t been shaped by a teacher. While our educational backgrounds and experiences may vary, our lives would be profoundly different without the contributions of our teachers. Skeptics have been known to say, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Well, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us (at least those of us with young learners at home) to acknowledge that this old cliché is not only false, but that the opposite is probably closer to the truth. As a parent and part-time amateur educator for two, I can say for myself that I find it much easier to do than to teach.
So, in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I asked some of my colleagues to share their thoughts and experiences on education during this time at home. They have generously provided their honest and thoughtful reflections, which – a lot like life right now – are a bit of a mixed bag.
We appreciate how much our daughter’s teacher not only balances her educational needs but also her emotional needs. This crisis brings out a range of emotions for everyone, let alone a young child who is still learning how to process her feelings. In this picture, her teacher asked each child to express how much they were feeling a particular emotion. There is clearly a mix of emotions right now; while it is fun to be home with mom and dad, it is just as difficult to not have friends over or visit grandparents. We appreciate how much teachers help our children navigate these feelings every day.
– Brian Parthum, SEMCOG Data Analysis
While I am not a parent myself, both of mine happen to work in education. In fact, the majority of my aunts, uncles, and grandparents did too (not to mention nearly all of their friends). Growing up, I remember being surprised to learn that some people still have to go to work in the summer. That’s not to say their jobs seemed easy – I also remember their long nights of paperwork, weekends spent preparing the classroom, shopping trips to buy their own materials, and stories of being scratched, bitten, kicked, or yelled at. With the COVID-19 pandemic presenting a whole new set of challenges, it’s been no surprise to see that those in education are rising to the occasion and facing them head-on.
My dad retired from his career as a school psychologist a few years ago, only to return to the workforce soon after as Michigan has a critical shortage of workers in this position. When I talked to him recently, he was on his way home from a shift of delivering curbside meals to families who rely on their school for breakfast and lunch. My mom works with kids under three that may need special education services, making weekly rounds of home-visits to play with them, evaluate their needs, and work with parents on ways to support their development. To carry on this type of work remotely, she’s been channeling her inner YouTube influencer, creating videos for parents with learning activities that use everyday household items, and individual messages for the kids, too. Through it all, seeing my parents adapt their skills and serve their communities in this time has been a good reminder that those in the education field do so much more than teach and how they impact people’s lives far beyond the classroom.
– Tyler Klifman, SEMCOG Economic and Community Vitality
I have come to really appreciate all the time and effort that goes into creating activities for the littles to bring home, and then cleaning up afterwards! We miss our friends and teachers, but are cherishing this time at home!
– Kirsten Wolfe, SEMCOG Finance
Little did my son, Alex, know that Thursday, March 12, would be his last day of in-person instruction at his high school. He was expecting to finish out his senior year the usual way – finishing up his last semester’s worth of classes, prom, graduation, parties, and preparation to start at Oakland Community College. Alex is on the autism spectrum, so order and routine are very important for his well-being. When we began our new routine, school work was sporadic. Alex spent a lot of time reading, playing video games, and adjusting to a new “normal.” Sleep schedules were disrupted, and the household spent a lot of time adjusting to being together all the time. We reached out to the school district’s support staff and counselors. It took a few weeks before structure and routine truly started to return, as many teachers were dealing with their own challenges. One consistent outlet for my son was his after-school book club. The group has met every Wednesday afternoon since the first week of the stay-at-home order.
His school did start formal remote learning on Monday, April 20. Classes meet four days a week, with opportunities for office hours with teachers every day. Each class has two hours of instruction, with supplemental materials assigned through online portals. Classes are held in the morning on Monday and Tuesday and the afternoon for Thursday and Friday. A few weeks into the remote learning plan, we have achieved a level of expectation of the amount of work that Alex needs to do. For physics, the students have to document some experiments they can complete at home. Algebra homework involves finishing math problems on an online portal. For physical education class, Alex has to document all of the physical activities he does through the week, with targets for each activity.
Sleep is still not great. “Zooming” with grandparents is not as fun as meeting in person. Alex really misses the daily interaction with his peers. We are doing everything we can for his physical and mental well-being.
– Ed Hug, SEMCOG Transportation Planning and Programming
As mother to an early childhood development teacher and grandmother to her two elementary students enrolled in a Spanish language immersion program, I don’t see how teachers with kids of their own have any hair left. My daughter splits her 25 students into 30-minute Zoom meetings of five students each – twice a week – to introduce new concepts and track progress. She posts at least one video blog a day of her reading to her students, and she develops weekly lesson plans and activities to engage the children in lessons and provide activities for the whole family.
At her side sits her youngest child, who needs assistance navigating through a full curriculum of subjects. Her son – the future engineer – speeds through his work unassisted (clearly a gift to this mom!) and gets back to Harry Potter. I am in awe. Imagine home-teaching your child all their lessons (including “new” math) in Spanish, when you are not a Spanish speaker. As the children of a typical over-achieving teacher, these two are also learning “old” math, mostly so mom (and dad) can check their work. Teachers, if it was possible to find even more appreciation for the work you do, this pandemic has done it! I wish I could send each of you on a trip to the tropics at the end of the year.
– Glenda Marks, SEMCOG Information Technology
My son is finishing his senior year of high school and my daughter is finishing eighth grade – milestone years for both. Finishing these important school years at home and in isolation is disappointing. But, WOW, their teachers have adapted and are providing meaningful assignments and projects.
My daughter’s English teacher assigns weekly reflections encouraging students to look around home for inspiration. “Our World Right Now” and “Meals as Memories” were two of the reflection assignments. It was my son’s former 8th grade American Studies teacher who supplied a really fun surprise. She had her students write a letter to their future selves, to be read their senior year of high school – his letter arrived in the mail last week.
What does an eighth grader write to himself (besides predicting the winners of major sporting events)? “I hope you got me into a good college and are still playing baseball.” Unfortunately, COVID-19 ended his last season of high school baseball before it started. On the bright side, his excellent education, courtesy of public school teachers, did get him into a good college. Go Blue!
– Amy Malmer, SEMCOG Membership
The saying goes that “It takes a village to raise a child.” Raising kids during this crisis proves how on point that statement is. While parents are ultimately responsible for a child’s education, the absence of a physical school shows how much each parent relies on a team of professionals to ensure we have a great quality of life. They all help us with our children while we are away at work. That way, we can come home at night and give our kids our undivided attention.
When you have multiple kids, like my wife and I do, the evidence is even clearer. I want to personally thank everyone involved with schooling – not only the teachers, but also the principals, administrative staff, para-pros, bus drivers, and custodians. Each one of them has an impact on our children’s lives.
– Brian Pawlik, SEMCOG Economic and Community Vitality
While some of my observations could be interpreted as complaints, I want to preface them with a disclaimer that my kids are doing fine and are broadly fortunate. Their educational experience is diminished without the presence of dedicated, skillful teachers and education professionals.
My kids miss mixing it up with other kids each day. There is no longer multi-sensory instruction or discussion that was easy to take for granted. My high school sophomore knows the class assignments are make-work and has adjusted his effort accordingly. He parcels out violin practice to add some structure to his day. My grade-schooler is semi-literate and until recently had a team of educators working with him. He struggles with the information that now comes through written communication. To continue making academic gains, my wife and I trade off focusing on professional tasks and guiding his instruction.
We really appreciate the teachers at our kids’ schools; all the more so in their absence.
– Trevor Brydon, SEMCOG Transportation Planning and Programming
We’re always looking for opportunities to encourage our kindergartener to apply, in everyday life, what he is learning at school. That’s easier right now, because it can be done in real time. For “music class,” he has been learning how to use a synthesizer to sequence his own melodies; and for “science class” the other day, he learned about electrical circuits and power sources by helping me replace an electrical outlet. As a “learn by doing” person, it is fun for me to teach him in these applied ways. Equally important, it gives his hard-working teacher/mom a break from the rigors of the homeschooling day.
– Michael Spence, SEMCOG Administration and Government Affairs
My husband and I are working and teaching our kids from our 900-square-foot home. Our boys are in 2nd and 6th grade. We’ve tried to keep to a schedule, including having a school start time. Before arriving to the dining room table school, the kids need to be wearing non-pajamas and have their teeth brushed. We need to be flexible, as I am working full-time from home and my husband is teaching college art online. So if we are both occupied, our boys work on something that requires little oversight and helps to develop their independence and focus. A craft or art project works well. This morning, they made Mother’s Day cards.
It can be challenging because both boys need individual help. And we need help to help them. We’re relying on Google to help us with subjects like Spanish, geography, and algebra. The kids can get overwhelmed by the work and trying to learn new concepts from struggling parents and YouTube videos. And class is interrupted by meltdowns and sibling fights. It’s difficult to focus when we’re often switching gears between our work and their school. It feels like someone is channel surfing our lives. My husband and I often take the opportunity to get some uninterrupted work done early morning and after the kids’ bedtime.
It’s not all bad, and some of the school is enjoyed by the whole family. We’ve listened to some wonderful books read by their teachers online. Our 6th grader is taking life skills and has had some much-appreciated assignments, like making the family breakfast and lunch. And doing the dishes! For drama class, he’s done pantomime performances and puppet shows for the family. Recess has been walking the dog, bike and scooter rides, and creating art with sidewalk chalk. We “window shop” at closed stores in the neighborhood and reminisce about the flaky croissants at the bakery and family dinners at our favorite pizza place. When the weather is bad, we have indoor dance parties, and they complain about my music choices. Today, we walked to the mailbox to mail the Mother’s Day cards.
The kids have also done a lot of painting and drawing the past two months in my husband’s art studio. They have been making comic books and writing stories. They make “movies” together, and we let our older son create a YouTube channel so he could share his creativity with family and friends. He really misses his friends. They video chat, but I know it’s not the same. My younger son misses going places. For the first few weeks he asked, “Where are we going today?” every morning. We’re mostly an introverted family, but we all really miss seeing our closest friends.
– Iris Steinberg, SEMCOG Economic and Community Vitality
Both of my kids claim not to miss school, but they definitely miss their teachers. Some days, it is daunting to muster the love and patience required to keep our own children in one piece, let alone to provide them with a quality education. Yet we kind of take it for granted that a stranger with no familial connection and modest compensation will do the job for a couple dozen kids all day, all week.
While the love teachers have for children is admirable and seemingly necessary to do the task well, it is only part of the magic formula. Teachers are professionals, with all that the term implies. They have invested years training for the vocation and in developing their craft. They are caregivers, mentors, masters in their specialties, and we rightly trust them with the most valuable assets we have. So, while appreciation may be a pittance compared to what we really owe our teachers, we offer it humbly. Now please, teachers, come get these kids!
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