`OUR WORKLOAD HAS DOUBLED'
Pandemic life is tough for teachers
Everyone has a story to tell. My Pandemic Year is a series in which Montrealers from all walks of life talk to Brendan Kelly about how the COVID-19 pandemic radically changed their worlds in 2020.
Jeff Kosow wants to make it clear that he's not complaining. But this Westmount High School teacher does want people to understand what a tough year it has been for teachers.
“Our workload has doubled,” said Kosow, who teaches physical education and leadership at Westmount High. “Not only do we teach our regular classes ... with the masks and the attention to detail with sanitizing, but now, as soon as I get off the phone with you I have to prep an online leadership class and that's completely different (from the in-person class). I'll have to put a Google slide presentation together. There's not enough hours in the day for teachers. I'm not looking for sympathy, but I think the public should understand.”
Like teachers (and college and university professors) everywhere, Kosow has found it mighty challenging to — overnight — make the transition to a mix of in-person and online teaching.
“Now you're asked to do something you've never done,” Kosow said. “I consider myself on the senior side of teaching, but it's new to me. But you have to do it and we're doing it ... teaching online you lose that connection. You can't get a feel for the room. It's very difficult. Things have been thrown at us constantly. You have things coming up all the time.
“Bubble classrooms are shutting down all the time because there's a COVID positive test and teachers are still expected to not skip a beat. That's extremely exhausting, it's frustrating and it's stressful. On top of that, I have two kids, my wife and I'm trying to balance a home life. It's tough.”
Then there's the fear of catching the virus.
“I'm petrified that I'm going to get it,” Kosow said. “I'm an asthmatic. I have my pump with me all the time. I feel I'm in a category that's a dangerous zone.”
Not to mention the endless cleaning. Cleaning the classrooms before the kids come in, after they leave. It's also tough to wear a mask all day when teaching.
“My throat is toast ( by the end of the school day),” Kosow said.
Again, Kosow wants to underline that it's tough, but he's doing all right. But he sees the impact on the teachers he knows.
“Teachers are burning out, teachers are taking mental-health days,” Kosow said.
It isn't easy for the kids, either, he added. He describes students sitting in classrooms with their winter coats on because the windows are wide open in an effort to bring in fresh air and hopefully make the rooms safer.
“That's not a way to learn,” Kosow said. “And kids don't have lockers now, so the Grade 10s and 11s are like vagabonds, they're carrying their stuff everywhere they go.”
Teaching gym during a pandemic presents some unique issues. Kosow has tried to focus on sports that involve less physical contact, like badminton, and there's also the stress of convincing everyone to keep on their masks.
Kosow said he agrees with Premier François Legault that it's essential to make every effort to keep the kids in school. He's just emphasizing that it's been a bit nuts this year. Part of that nuttiness, Kosow believes, is that teachers and school administrators often learn of government decisions at the last minute and he feels there's not enough consultation with folks on the front lines in the schools.
Kosow has nothing but praise for his school's administration, but he's not as ready to give an A-plus to the provincial government and its Ministry of Education.
“Many of the decisions seem way out in left field,” Kosow said. “My principal and the staff are finding things out from the news, from the press conferences. Why aren't we informed a little bit earlier? Give us time to learn how to do it. Things are literally popping up out of nowhere and a lot of times we're scratching our heads.”
Maybe the thing Kosow is saddest about is the fact his students can no longer do any extracurricular activities at school.
“The kids are suffering,” Kosow said. “There's no sports. There's no clubs. At 3:05, everyone's out of the school within three minutes. Goodbye! It's a dead zone. We used to have basketball, volleyball, soccer. It's brutal. There's kids who need their basketball. That was their outlet. That's what kept them coming to school. The after-school basketball program. Being on a school team. Being in the music program. My kids played soccer, softball and badminton. It's very depressing. It's devastating.”
In short, there aren't a lot of silver linings, which is why Kosow and his colleagues were so absolutely delighted this fall when Westmount High alumna Kamala Harris became the first woman and the first person of South Asian descent to be elected vice-president of the United States.
“We could not have asked for a better-timed pick-me-up,” said Kosow. “I taught (tennis star) Eugenie Bouchard, she's a Wimbledon finalist. I taught Marco Scandella, he plays in the NHL. I scored a goal on Jake Allen in floor hockey, he plays on the Montreal Canadiens. Leonard Cohen, probably the most famous Westmount High graduate up until the new No. 1, Kamala Harris. She used to walk into the school, now she's walking into the White House.”
There's not enough hours in the day for teachers. I'm not looking for sympathy, but I think the public should understand.