Ch APT e R

Introduction

Julia Sanders rises at 5:30 a.m. She rushes to get ready for her day, first preparing breakfast for her three school-aged children. Following breakfast, and under normal circumstances, she would make sure that each child had on a clean and neat uniform, had their school bags packed, and got safely on the school bus. However, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Julia’s children don’t need uniforms, backpacks, or a school bus since they receive virtual instruction at home. Julia cannot remain at home with them, though; once her aunt arrives to spend the day with the Sanders children, Julia leaves for her job as an eighth-grade teacher where she teaches using a concurrent model: teaching eleven socially-distanced students face to face in her classroom while delivering virtual instruction to the sixteen remaining students whose parents have chosen online learning.

Julia must keep all her students engaged as they all wear masks and socially distance. Some virtual instruction students have little support at home while online and find it difficult to remain on task. They are failing to submit many of their assignments. Julia is constantly reminding her in-person students to remain apart from one another, even during engaging tasks. She is disheartened by her inability to provide those reassuring physical touches that so many of her students need. She consistently sanitizes the classroom for her own safety and the safety of the students she loves.

When school ends at 3:20 p.m., Julia heads home, but she isn’t done teaching for the day. She must be sure that her own children have learned their lessons and completed their daily assignments. Aunt Peggie is a tremendous help, but she doesn’t have the skills or ability to keep up with the children’s work.

Julia then receives a call informing her that a close contact of one of her students has tested positive for COVID-19. She discovers that the parents have emailed her, upset that their child must remain at home until he receives a negative COVID test. The student’s parents indicated that they live paycheck to paycheck and need to be