A Day in the Life of a Covid Edition
Teacher By Crystal Roberson
It’s 6:35am and I’m pulling into the teacher parking lot. I say a quick prayer that my four kids at home remember to grab their water bottles and masks before their ride to school arrives; with the new required start time for teachers here at Mater Dei this year, I can’t take them to school. As I exit my car, I mask up and go straight to my classroom to prepare for the day. My morning routine includes the normal tasks such as updating today’s date on the board and displaying the day’s agenda with objectives and homework. Additionally, I readjust desks to try to meet the recommended 3-6 feet spacing. By 7 a.m. students file in, and as we greet each other behind masked faces, I can sense the smiles in their eyes. After prayer and the pledge of allegiance, I take attendance and fire up Zoom, while my students begin their bellwork. I greet absent students on a second screen I have set up to the right of my laptop, and the shuffle between classroom and virtual instruction begins. Class ends, and I scramble to spray and clean 25 desks as students pour out into the hallway. The dirty towel I use gets dumped into the dirty laundry basket, and I try to race to the bathroom before the bell rings.
Then, we start all over again: attendancezoom- instruction- balance- troubleshooting. My planning period begins with towel duty. Many teachers and staff members bond over the tasks of dumping dirty towels, replacing empty baskets with clean, loading washers and dryers, and refilling supply baskets. Somehow, in the middle of these volunteer jobs, we find ways to share our weekend stories, camping trips, and what we plan to make for dinner. No one complains. We do it because we want to be here, and we want the kids to be safe. Students wear their masks without complaint. They are patient with their teachers who balance the double-duty expectations of teaching both in-person and virtually.
