‘We’re just scared’
Teachers express fears over returning to their classrooms this year
While parents and students work to figure out whether or not they will do in-person or online classes, Jamie Norris is trying to figure out the safest way to do her job.
Norris, a kindergarten teacher at Salk Elementary in Merrillville, said returning to in-person feels dangerous, and she’s nervous for what the school year will look like.
“Teachers’ anxiety is huge,” Norris said. “We’re just scared. … I don’t want to be sick, I don’t want to expose anyone else, I don’t think it’s safe for my kids. Teachers aren’t just thinking about ourselves, we’re thinking about the kids.”
As schools continue to announce reopening plans, teachers throughout Northwest Indiana are going to spend the next few weeks making changes to their classrooms and learning plans to accommodate for the pandemic, trying to give their students the best education possible while also keeping them safe.
While planning the school year, the main issue lies with larger schools because of the amount of children that will be in the building and the classrooms, Norris said.
While high school and middle school students may understand the need to wear a face mask and social distance, it may be more difficult to keep younger children who do not fully understand the pandemic away from each other.
Norris said in order to keep her kindergartners separated, she has purchased hula-hoops for them to sit in when they do activities where they’re together on the ground instead of sitting at their desk.
“If I can sit them on the floor, they’re going to have to sit in a hula-hoop,” Norris said.
Young students who are typically able to work together and play with each other at recess will have a different experience this year in the classroom, and those who have never been to school before will not get the genuine experience, Norris said. Returning to the classroom this way could affect the way they view school in the future.
“I’m a hugger, most of us hug our kids — we can’t hug them, we can’t shake their hand, we’re going to have our faces covered,” Norris said. “They say the kids need to be socialized, but they’re not going to get it going back like this.”
While teachers of younger stu
dents are worried about keeping them apart, others, like Ryan Collier, who teaches math, Latin and research at Crown Point High School, said they’re concerned about the return to in-person learning, but believe it’s probably the best thing to do.
“I’m curious as to how it’s going to play out, concerned for the safety of the students and staff, but ultimately, personally, I think going back is what’s in the best interest of most people,” Collier said.
Collier said he’s unsure how the school day will play out, and noted that in the course of the pandemic, he hasn’t had to keep a mask on for longer than about an hour and half.
“I think it’ll bother some people to have them on all day or most of the day,” Collier said. “I’m not sure how I would feel wearing it for eight or 10 hours, but I think it’s something that we’ll just have to deal with and figure out as we go.”
Gary Teachers Union President GlenEva Dunham said as districts decide what the upcoming school year will look like, she’s seen a lot of teachers she knows express fear for returning to the classroom, and she doesn’t blame them.
“This is a matter of life and death, and that’s real,” Dunham said. “Sometimes you say that and it’s not really real, but in this case, it’s really real.”
Gary Community School
Corp. is among those that have decided to begin the school year online, waiting until the number of COVID-19 cases decline and health professionals in the area say the return to inperson learning is safe.
Dunham, who was a kindergarten teacher for 31 years, said she knows it’s important for students to return to an in-person learning environment, but as she imagines what the school year will look like, she doesn’t see it operating as well as districts in the area want it to.
“I know kids need to be in the building, we all want them in the building. … I’m steady visualizing how that will work, and I’m just not seeing it working,” Dunham said.
Meetings to plan for the upcoming school year have frequently taken place over video chats, Dunham said, which could be a sign in and of itself.
“If adults are still meeting on Zoom, then what do we think about kids?” Dunham said.
As the situation with COVID-19 changes, districts in the area have created re-entry plans, letting parents, students and teachers know that the situation with the 2020-21 school year is fluid and can change at any time.
“It’s about what’s best for this children … you have to do what’s best for the kids, and then you’ll always be OK,” Dunham said. “That’s what school is about. It’s about the kids.”