Teachers never stopped teaching

Douglas Malan of Newington writes a letter to thank teachers for their dedication and hard work during the coronavirus pandemic and suggests that the collective body of teachers, school administrators and all staff should be named Teacher of the Year.

What an enviable task choosing Teacher of the Year recipients this school year.

How can one teacher be singled out among all the educators who have sacrificed, improvised and adapted during an unprecedented situation?

For my vote, the 2019-20 Teacher of the Year should be the collective body of teachers, administrators and staff. In Newington’s school district, professionals at all levels have been working hard to keep students connected and engaged.

When schools closed in mid-March, teachers and administrators spent weeks behind the scenes surveying families’ online connectivity, helping them boost internet speed and delivering Chromebooks to prepare for months of online learning. School staff coordinated efforts to provide meal service.

What was thought to be temporary soon became status quo.

Through it all, teachers taught. Reading groups met multiple times per week to share stories. An art class video conference involved classmates striking poses for others to sketch. Office hours were readily available for anyone needing help.

I’m certain teachers throughout the state have been managing their daily lessons in similar ways. We personally attained a deeper understanding after seeing school “in action,” peeking in before our sons shooed us away.

I appreciate how difficult educators’ jobs are in “normal” times. I sat in the family room with my mother, a second-grade teacher in my small Illinois hometown, as she graded papers and worked on classroom material deep into the evening while I watched television. Every year she was assigned the students who needed a little extra help making it through second grade, the ones who often pushed the envelope. Mom ended every school year ready for the mental break offered by summer. And she began every school year in mid-August eager to return and teach a new class.

For her, she says the most difficult part of retirement is the back-to-school feeling that still comes every August, but knowing there’s no classroom to go to.

The physical classroom is something so many teachers must be missing right now. Some students do too, even if they enjoy a bit more freedom during their schooldays now. We heard from one of our son’s teachers emailing about the sadness that comes with returning to an empty building to clean out her classroom for the year.

And that’s an important point to remember. Yes, it’s painful for students and parents to see memorable events and milestone moments canceled or altered beyond recognition. But it’s also difficult for teachers to miss out on the interactions that positively define their school year.

Consider how much time and thought goes into a certain lesson plan, especially one that’s created in a way to appeal to students during these strange and anxious times. Maybe a little more fun goes into it. A different twist to make things a bit more exciting. And then consider how the teacher can only do so much within an online setting. Think of the deflating feeling when only a handful of students engage with the lesson.

Everyone on both sides of online learning has had their difficult days during the school week. Nothing about this feels natural. It’s easier to feel frustrated and exhausted.

But I’ve seen so many teachers working hard to deliver in these circumstances. They connect. They celebrate. They encourage. They make the school day the best experience they can for their students.

And for that, all should be commended.