Due to the unusual circumstances presented by COVID-19, teachers have been forced to take on several additional responsibilities as they now have to juggle the responsibilities of teaching fully online students and in-person students.
Some new questions have arisen: How has this extra stress impacted teachers and what changes have they had to make to their teaching style to maintain this schedule? These questions are seldom acknowledged, yet have still had a substantial impact on the everyday routines of teachers.
The added stress of the school year has affected science teacher Craig Parker in ways he has not usually experienced. “It’s definitely been more stressful…with students emailing and contacting after school at night and me feeling the responsibility to respond to their concerns, ” Parker said. This year, a significant portion of Parker’s free time is being utilized to respond to student emails, which adds further stress to his routine.
Parker also noted:“It’s sometimes hard to have a good sense of where students are in terms of are they doing stuff while they are at home, especially some of my online students who I don’t ever see in person, are they doing what they need to do? Sometimes staying on top of all that can be a challenge.” Parker’s evident concern for his students’ success is one reason he has found it difficult to ignore his email outside his contracted hours.
Furthermore, Parker has had trouble formulating assignments. Parker said:“Trying to develop the activities that are a little more conducive to online instruction while responding to questions and concerns, yeah, it’s a little bit stressful.” Creating new activities has been time consuming and stressful for Parker.
Another teacher affected by this change is Barb Pischke, a math teacher at Pleasant Valley.
Pischke has felt the stresses of the new schedule, having said: “Basically I feel like I am in a three ring circus because I have hybrid A and then I have hybrid B and then all online, so instead of planning for six classes, I’m planning for 18 classes and people might say but you get to do the same thing for each class, but when I teach I might get this far with one class and I might get a different place with a different class.” Having to adjust to the new methods of learning and teacher has left Pischke needing to keep up with 3 times the number of classes.
Importantly Pischke added: “Sometimes I don’t get to see my kids, which is frustrating.”This new schedule-which extends outside of school hours-can be inconvenient and stressful for teachers.
Pischke has had to make changes to the way she teaches as well to accommodate online students saying, “I had to learn so much technology…I just feel like I am always juggling ‘“where’s this stack, where’s that stack, did I upload this quiz for the online kids, oh no it just changed the online kids are coming back because they’re not under quarantine anymore’”That has been challenging.”
This year, the responsibilities of keeping students safe and educated have caused teachers to experience an immense amount of pressure.
