An open love letter to teachers

This week is teacher appreciation week, and because our world has been turned upside down by COVID-19, we won’t have the usual teacher appreciation breakfast/lunch/potluck/celebration. I won’t bake my usual Coconut Cupcakes (which are always highly coveted, ask a Tobin Montessori teacher!) and we certainly did won’t be able to celebrate our teachers this year as we have traditionally done.

And yet, this year, we owe our teachers an extra debt of gratitude. Turning traditional instruction into remote learning over the weekend is a herculean task, one that many of our teachers took on unflinchingly in early March. Teachers who had never used a video chat before figured out how to teach an entire class that way. They broke their students up into learning groups to ensure that each child was receiving that critical differentiated instruction. They’ve checked in on their student’s mental health, when surely theirs is also straining. Putting on a brave face each day as they learn new tools to communicate, feel anguish about those students who they cannot reach, as they worry about their own elderly parents, their own children’s zoom classes and their own mental health. The strain that this virus has placed on our teachers are enormous, and we need to thank them, to appreciate them, now more than ever before.

I’ve seen teachers volunteer day after day to hand out food at school meal sites, just to see their students for a few minutes a day in person. I’ve seen them give up their time to pack and deliver chromebooks, wireless hotspots, gift cards, diapers, school supplies and books to ensure their students and their families have what they need to survive this pandemic while the physical school buildings are closed. Teachers are driving to each of their student’s houses to check in from a safe distance outside, making sure their student’s know they still care about them, even though they mostly see them through a computer screen.

Let’s be clear: these teachers are not doing this because it’s their job. They are doing it because they love our kids.

I’ve watched our teachers gather our children into their arms and their hearts, remotely, and have loved them through a screen. As a society we are grateful to these front line heroes for responding in this unprecedented moment. But we also need to call upon our district level leaders to support them in this pivot to remote learning, and ensure that they have the tools they need to be successful in this brave new world of instruction.

Thank you dear teachers, for all that you have done and continue to do to care for our children. I appreciate you.