It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! Unfortunately, with the ongoing pandemic, we can’t properly
honor them with the only teachers gift that makes sense—a solid gold apple and a trapper
keeper full of cash. I asked Allana Harkin to find out about how teachers are working
with parents during this new era. Hollywood tells us that education during the
apocalypse looks like this: - You have to do every single thing I say
or we will not make it. Understand? But my pandemic teaching looks more like this:
So this is a W-4, and by the end of today’s lesson, you’re gonna have to be able to
do my taxes. - Okay!
I wanted to find out how over 50 million students and their teachers are dealing with remote
teaching. So in between rage-teaching new math to my kids and dog squats, I found a
moment to do my actual job. I’m sorry. This is Dr. Diane Ravitch, New York Times
bestselling author, former Assistant Secretary of Education, and my teacher for the day.
So what message would you give to parents who are teaching for the first time and who
are kind of like, I suck at this? - I think the first thing is—relax.
Okay. I’m relaxed. - Remember: most parents are like you. You
have a job, you have to do your work, and then they’re also expecting you to teach
your children. You’re not a homeschooler. You’re a parent.
Can you be my therapist? Ravitch says that public schools haven’t faced this type of
challenge since, like, ever. And parents like me are forced to get creative during grammar
lessons. - What does that even mean?
Nobody knows. - No one was really prepared for this. Not
the public health officials. Not the schools. Not the parents.
- Not the parents. And this is just enormously wearing. And I think that we really have to
start to show a lot of respect to teachers because they’ve taken on an unexpected role.
Teachers are now child care, tech support, social workers, and friends. Plus, they adapt
their curriculums for, you know, those idiot parents who may or may not know how to unmute
on Zoom! Oh, dear. Can you hear me, Diane? - This is learning how to leach again.
- It’s really been tough trying to create the same type of atmosphere and keep a steady
schedule. - It’s far less heartfelt than it is being
in a real classroom at this point. Michelle, Antoine, and Asha are all teachers
at public schools. What would be your number one piece of advice to parents who are homeschooling
for the first time ever? - I would definitely tell parents to be patient.
Ask for help. Okay, so ask for help. And guess what? Learning
at home can also suck for the learn-ees! Wait a second—is that a word?
- The virtual classroom looks very confusing to a lot of children. We are using things
like Zoom and Flipgrid and Teams. - It’s becoming harder for the kids to even
understand the directions and it’s becoming harder for them to get help.
- As opposed to just being a classroom teacher and having your 25-30 children, I have about
500 children in mine. Oh!
- Because every single child has music in the building.
- Having 36 kids in a class who don’t speak English and are trying to learn English who
just got here last month? It’s a difficult job.
- Just trying to keep it exciting so they don’t feel like, “I could really just
be playing Fortnite.” In the Battle Royale of video games vs Zoom
lectures, it’s Game Over for Zoom. But that’s minor compared to this.
- When we first found out that schools were closing, I learned that 2 of my 27 students
had access to the internet. It’s called the digital divide. And while
I thought my situation was tough, it’s nothing compared to the millions of students who can’t
access online schooling. - Those inequities that we normally see in
education are only gonna be intensified because of this. And I really worry for my students
and for their futures. In an attempt to fill in the divide, teachers
are getting crafty. They're leaving worksheets outside of schools, turning school buses into
WiFi hotspots, and reaching students in whatever way possible.
- I am printing out resources and mailing them to kids from my house.
And teachers’ number one priority? Social and emotional support.
- You know, sometimes it’s not even about an assignment. It’s about checking in on
their wellbeing. - I am now a reviewer of Tik Tok dances. So
my students know how to call me through the application that we use so I get video chats,
multiple times a day, where I critique their Tik Tok dances. So that’s not a role I saw
myself taking on, but I enjoy it. - Teachers have been doing this and wearing
all those hats throughout our career. I feel like parents are really understanding how
much time teachers put into their students and invest into their students and their classrooms.
Yes! Even before coronavirus, teachers have been helping their students get food, basic
necessities, and protect them from dangerous things like Betsy DeVos. And it all makes
my questionable teaching techniques seem way less painful. Well, except for gym class.
As parents, we need our kids to go back to school. Because if they don’t get back to
school, we become the homeschoolers, and then we can’t make fun of the homeschoolers anymore.
Because now we’re the weird ones. - If there’s anything good that comes out
of this horrendous experience, I hope that people will, when school someday reopens,
appreciate that teachers are really working very hard and that it’s not easy. And when
it’s over, and it will be over, you’re gonna say to their teachers, “Thank you,
thank you, thank you,” and “I’m gonna vote for whoever is going to pay you more.
I’m gonna vote out the bad guys in the legislature.” ‘Cause one of the fundamental building blocks
of democracy is having a free and universal public school system.
Yes please. Trust teachers! Give them the resources they need! And for god sakes, pay
them more! But for now, with no clear plan on how or when our kids will be back to their
classrooms safely, I'm just gonna be the best damn math teacher I can be. If Mommy has three
bottles of rosé, and you add two bottles of rosé... You know what? Never mind. I’m
gonna have a negroni.