What every teacher in 2020 wants you to know:

Dear Education Onlookers,

I'm a classroom teacher during 2020. I just started year 11, and it is unlike any school year I've ever had (and I've taught 5 different grade levels, in schools from one socioeconomic extreme to the other).
There are two scenarios that come to mind when I try to describe how each day feels. Scenario #1 - the circus performer with spinning plates. My school is on a 3 week rotation with kids, so at any given time, I've only got 1/3 of my kids with me in my classroom; the rest are joining class via livestream. So everyday I'm managing my classroom, running the livestream via my computer, filming a wide view of my classroom for the livestream with an iPad, and managing the livestream chat (on my phone) for those kids who don't have a mic on their device.
It might seem like a lot. It is.
It may even seem like overkill. It might be.
But it feels like the best way for my kids to feel the most connected to our classroom, and less like an outsider looking in.
Spinning plates.
Scenario #2 - The feeling of trying to explain how to "fix the tv" to someone over the phone. You all know what I'm talking about because you've been on the receiving end of, or you've made one of those phone calls. A button on the remote control gets pressed by accident and seemingly messes up everything on the tv, so someone else in the family (usually a child or grandchild) gets a phone call that goes something along the lines of, "Why won't my tv work?" So then, through the phone, the fixer tries to explain which button to press and make things go back to normal, but it's tricky without actually being there in person. "Did you push the button that says menu? What do you see now? Did that work?" and so on, and so forth.
That is what virtual teaching feels like.
I am constantly asking kids on my livestream if they can hear me, if they can see what I'm trying to show them, if my screen-share is working, etc.
To quote Jasmine and Aladdin, it's "a whole new world".
So please, dear Onlooker, be kind. Give your kid's teacher extra grace.
If they accidentally get marked as absent, send a kind email and just let the teacher know that you think that might have been a mistake. An absence can easily be changed in the attendance system.
If you don't think the work is rigorous enough, give it some time. We missed an entire 9-weeks of school at the end of last year, and we're all trying to figure out this new way of teaching. We're trying to review/reteach what was missed, all while we reinvent the wheel to stay on top of the curriculum for this year.
My school has an advantage because our students were used to working digitally even when we were in the classroom full time, but not every school is like that. There are some teachers who's students are logging into their school-issued email address for the first time ever. There are some teachers who's students are waiting for their parents to get off of work so that they can do their school work on the parent's smartphone because there is a backorder of Chromebooks, so the school won't be able to loan them one until they arrive in a month or two. Your child may be an iPad whiz, but the student who's supposed to be sitting next to them in class may have never touched one. Be kind.
And for the love, if you hear of a teacher / school who has requested that parents not be a part of the classroom digital meeting, please know that it is either out of respect for the privacy of your child's classmates, or simply out of respect for the teacher. Imagine how nerve-wracking it would be for a teacher (or other students) to have a parent sitting in their class, in person, during a lesson. The same applies to knowing a parent is sitting there listening to (and maybe analyzing) your every word during a livestream. It's not because we are being secretive, or we don't want parents to know what their child is being taught. It's just an attempt to preserve the feeling of being in class like normal.

All of that being said, and all things considered, this year is actually going really well so far! In fact, anytime someone has asked, "How's it going?!" I've responded with, "Honestly, really well!" The majority of my students have been so flexible, and dove in to this digital world head first right along with me! And honestly, the small groups setting isn't so bad. Yes, it's more work to have 2/3 of my class joining me digitally, but ask any teacher and they'll tell you, you can put the worst behaved kid in the school in a small group of 5 or 6, and their behavior will be dramatically improved! It's all about the ability to give more one-on-one attention.
Also, I am ALL caught up on my grading! This never happens. If you've ever lived with me, you know that I am a habitual 2-am-the-night-before-progress-reports grader. It's one of my worst flaws. Thanks to the digital teaching and learning platform we're all using this year, all of my things are auto-graded and synced to my online gradebook! It is amazing!! I'll be a Canvas devotee for the rest of my teaching days if that is the only perk I get out of it. 

What I guess I want you to know, dear Education Onlooker, is that teachers are trying. Not just regular trying, but actually trying really hard. They chose this profession, not because they're lazy and want summer off, but because they enjoy it! So many teachers will tell you that their favorite part of the job is the relationships they have with their students. (Me! That's my favorite part!) We want to be "back to normal" but we also want to be safe. Yes, kids may be less susceptible to COVID-19, but their parents, grandparents, and neighbors aren't. So let's give some grace, have some understanding, and wear a dang mask. Over your nose.
And, Lord have mercy, stop posting your judgemental opinions and rants on Facebook unless you ACTUALLY know what you're talking about.

Please and thank you,
Your friend, MC