My husband and I celebrated 21 years of marriage in
June. We’ve attended a lot of marriage
conferences and retreats along the way.
I remember at one of those conferences, the speaker talked about the
power analogies. Sometimes, it is
difficult to understand someone else’s perspective, and a good analogy can go a
long way. (Though even the best
analogies break down at some point.) So,
here is my attempt to provide you with an analogy of what it’s like to teach in
a public school in 2020…
Signs made by our amazing PTO for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Let’s compare teaching in 2020 to being a cashier at
Publix. (I mean, who doesn’t like
Publix?) You’ve wanted to work here your
whole life, and you love helping people.
You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Once you took the job (before the pandemic ever hit), you realized that
you were expected to do a lot more than just work the register. In addition to being a cashier, it was also
your responsibility to bag the groceries, help the customers load items they
had purchased into their cars, return shopping carts to the store, restock the
shelves, and run the customer service desk.
Sometimes you are also asked to help out in the bakery, pharmacy, or
meat department. You are assigned all of
these duties, and yet you are asked to never leave your register during your
scheduled work hours. If you ever do
need to step away for a moment, the cashier beside you has to cover for you and
run his/her register plus yours simultaneously.
Sometimes the store doesn’t have items that your customers
need. Because you love and care about
them so much, you use your own money to purchase those items from other stores to
give to the patrons on their next visit.
Granted, you can’t do all this during your scheduled hours, so you stay
late almost every day (without extra pay) to finish up everything that needs to
be done. It’s a lot, but after a while
you find a way to manage. You use your
lunch and other “breaks” to return shopping carts and stock shelves with one
hand while eating with the other hand.
Your children get used to hanging out at the store after hours while you
finish. Sometimes they even help you
wrangle up all of the carts and restock the shelves. Somehow, you make it all work.
Then, Covid hits.
As we enter the fall of 2020, not only do you still have all
of the responsibilities listed above – you are also responsible for monitoring
the doors and screening every incoming customer; sanitizing all of the shopping
carts; and sanitizing the conveyor belt and keypad between every customer. You will be given a mask, but any other
protective barriers (like plexiglass) will be up to you to purchase and
install. And last (but certainly not
least) you are now responsible for all Shipt orders. (Did you catch that last sentence?) In addition to working the cash register all
day, you will also be fulfilling and delivering all online orders. Can you sneak a few orders in during the
day? Maybe. But don’t forget you’re never supposed to
leave your register - and you were already in charge of bagging groceries,
loading items into customers’ cars, returning shopping carts (that you now have
to sanitize), restocking shelves, and running the customer service desk – which
now needs non-stop attention. Plus,
there are people at home who can’t come into the store but have no access to
the Shipt program. You are responsible
for making sure they get their groceries as well. And did I mention yet that every few days
they decide to rearrange the grocery store aisles?
And that just describes the general education teachers.
If you are a special education teacher, the items you need
for your customers may not even be available at Publix, and you don’t have a
team of cashiers (grade level teachers) to help you search for and deliver
these extra items. So, not only are you
doing all the things listed above – you are also running to other stores all
night long trying to fulfill missing items on orders. Then, there are multiple forms that must be
filled out on a daily basis to prove that you’ve done all that you were asked
to do. You will fill out hundreds and
hundreds of pages of forms in a year.
You may even break 1,000. Sometimes
the documentation takes just as long (or longer) than the actual task.
And this doesn’t even touch on the problems with
childcare. Due to Covid, your children
may not be allowed in the building.
Remember how they used to hang out after hours while you finished
working? Where do they go now? Do you just leave when your scheduled hours
are complete so you can care for them – knowing you left so many things undone? If your store (school) moves to a 50/50 plan,
where do teachers’ children go on the days they are not in school (and their
parent still is)? If it moves to all
virtual, what happens to your kids if you are required to be on campus but they
can’t? Non-educators are not the only
ones facing childcare issues. Believe
me, we understand!
Yet in the midst of all it all, this is what you want to
do. It is what you dreamed of doing your
entire life. You love and care for each
of your customers. There is nowhere else
you would rather be. It breaks your
heart to want to do something so badly, and yet not have the resources you need
to do it effectively.
Earlier this week, I asked someone to be praying for me, our
schools and our teachers, and I alluded to how overwhelming all of this is. They responded (with what felt like a very
condescending tone), “So are you just going to have to work a little overtime?” It’s then that I realized that they really didn’t
get it – so I’m assuming that some of you don’t really get it either. I was already working overtime! The problem is that I’m only one person, and
there’s only so much that I can physically do in a day. I eventually need to go home to my family,
and I have to sleep. (Cue the caffeine!)
As a Christian, I think often of Colossians 3:23, “Whatever
you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Everything I do is for Him, and He reminded
me the other day that we have already made it through much worse together, and
we will make it through this too. He
knows I will do my best. And the things
I can’t get done? I have no idea. I just trust that He knows my heart and that
I will give it all I have. There will be
shopping carts that don’t get returned or disinfected, orders that are missed,
shelves that don’t get stocked - and there will be angry customers (and
supervisors). Through it all, I will remind
myself to keep my eyes on Him - for He Himself is my peace (Ephesians
2:14). Some days I will do it well, and
some days I won’t. I will offer you
grace, and I hope you will do the same for me.
When you run into a teacher this week/month/year, please extend
a little love and grace. Don’t minimize what we are facing, and really listen
to our thoughts and concerns.
And stocking us up with a little caffeine and chocolate
won’t hurt either! J
Janel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P.S. I have to say
that I have debated about whether or not to share this. Sometimes I write things just for myself, to
help me think and process life – and I never end up sharing them. I don’t want anyone to see this as a rant, or
think that I don’t enjoy teaching. If I
didn’t love teaching, I (very literally) would have quit and gotten a job at
Publix a long time ago. The reason I
finally decided to share is because we really have to start listening to and
understanding each other. So much of
life seems to be filled with us talking AT each other instead of TO each other. I’m sharing a bit of my life as a teacher in
the hopes that you will also share bits of your life with me – so that I can
also understand you, your life, and your concerns on a deeper level. I also hope to give a voice to other teachers
out there who, like me, feel very unheard and unseen right now. There are so many issues in education, and
they can’t be addressed by a single post.
However, unless we all start having some real conversations, will
anything ever change?
