A Labor of Love

 “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

As we celebrate Labor Day, it’s easy to look around and see how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the American workforce. Maybe you’ve been laid off, or at least you know someone who has. Perhaps you’re working from home or experiencing a drastic change in how your work environment looks. The travel, hospitality, food-service, construction, and retail industries have been hit hardest. Small business owners are reeling. The good news is that unemployment is dropping, and businesses are starting to bounce back. 

 

The education of children around the world, has been significantly altered by the pandemic. Schools are in different stages of reopening. My worldwide sources tell me that schools in Prague are fully open, but the students are bubbled by year. It’s like keeping the freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all isolated from each other. So that if someone is infected, just that one group can be quarantined. 

 

A friend in the UK reported that schools where she lives are also ready to open next week. There are several protocols in place to keep kids safe and socially distanced. One includes putting the teacher in a marked off box that the students aren’t allowed to enter. Sort of like the goal crease in hockey. If the teacher leaves the box, does he or she receive a two-minute timeout in the teachers’ lounge?

 

My national correspondents relay similar info. A teacher in Florida said her school is open. Parents had the choice of virtual or traditional school. Teachers with health issues take the virtual classes. In Maryland, my cousin stated that schools are only virtual, but will re-evaluate next month. A friend in Rochester, NY also had the traditional vs. virtual option. A cousin in eastern Michigan says that schools are either open, totally virtual, or using a hybrid, depends on where you live. Here in LA County, virtual is the only option. 

Last month, I started my 21^st year of teaching and it’s safe to say that I’ve never had a day when I didn’t want to go to work. But, contrary to the quote above, I’ve had to work every one of those days. The wisdom of the quote is not lost on me. Find a career that is rewarding and meaningful and you’ll enjoy your work. Choose a job to which you can passionately devote your heart and mind and you’ll discover a fulfillment that carries you though the struggles, frustrations, and difficulties.

 

And that’s what I’ve found. Teaching is by far the hardest and most exhausting job I’ve had, but it is fulfilling and rewarding beyond measure. I enjoy the challenges. I love not being stuck in a car or an office. I like creating lessons and collaborating. My day flies by. Oh, and the kids are pretty great too. They learn, grow, and make me laugh. But they’re hard too, because well, they’re kids. But on tough days, we can go play kickball.

Teaching has always required a ton of work. I’ve often said that I could keep an administrative assistant busy with all the extra things on my plate. No teacher ever says, “I’m caught up.” There is always something else to do. But things are incredibly different now. The work has exponentially increased. This season of pandemic-induced distance learning reminds me of my first year of teaching. It was a crazy year of on-the-job training and trial-by-fire preparation. Every waking minute was spent thinking about teaching. And 21 years later I find myself in the same boat. It’s non-stop thinking and around-the-clock working. I, and teachers around the world, are working harder than ever.

 

A quick poll of my colleagues tells me that educators are working twice, three-times, maybe even four times as much. One said that the stress and anxiety that comes with virtual instruction has increased also. And it’s more physically taxing, reported another. Doing so much computer work is wreaking havoc on our eyes, brains, heads, backs, and necks. I agree. I feel mentally fried by the end of the day.

 

Here’s a glimpse of the difference between virtual and traditional: a simple third-grade lesson on adjectives would include giving the students a page to cut out, color, and glue into a notebook as I guided them through the lesson. Virtually, this is much harder. It would involve parents being able to download and print my worksheets. So Instead, I create a slideshow about adjectives that includes embedding an adjectives video. Then I create a Google form to give the students practice with adjectives. Lastly, I assign adjectives practice on an educational website. Now imagine doing that for every lesson, for each subject, five days a week. 

And that’s just lesson prep. Add in a few more hours to learn all the technology that distance learning requires. Teachers are watching videos, scouring digital-learning platforms, vetting online resources, and learning how to use educational websites so they can make their Zoom lessons academically enriching. 

 

Many teachers I know are Zooming from their empty classrooms. I read about a history teacher from Texas who is traveling all around the country teaching from historical places of interest. Another, hospitalized on bedrest, is laboring from her hospital bed until she goes into labor. I have graduated from the kitchen table where I taught in the spring to the upstairs guestroom. It’s quiet and I have my own restroom.

 

Why are teachers working so hard? Because it’s what we do. We don’t want our students to lose out on learning. We want to maximize every moment, in person or virtual, we have with them. We don’t accept mediocre work, so we don’t allow ourselves to perform mediocrely. Even if it means working in the summer, on the weekends, at nights, and on holidays.

 

Somewhere there is a teacher working today, a holiday devoted to taking a break from working. So, as you celebrate say a prayer or a give a positive thought to the universe for the teachers in your life.

 

Because we need them. Now more than ever before. 

 

Happy Labor Day