Is teaching in 2020 a nightmare everywhere or just here?

Question

I put this in here bc anywhere else on here  people become really hateful when teachers "complain" about work.
I am drowning guys. I don't know if I can keep doing this. Between in person, online, and kids leaving for extended sick periods I can't keep up. I have 2 preps, but with all the changes in format, 2 subjects has become 4+.
Most parents are being kind and supportive but some are downright jerks asking for grace sotheir kid can turn work in a month late and then screaming and yelling and calling the office because you've taken more than 48 hours to grade said extremely late work. 
My school is great and they don't allow parents to trash us but just hearing that these parents are doing this or flatout lying about you pisses me off. 
I have 6million things on my plate and have cried in my dark classroom at least once a week for the past 5 weeks. I cried in front of my students Monday because an activity one of my dept members made (we share the load) was completely nonfunctional. Normally I wouldnt bat an eye I'd just jump in to the activity and fix it. I still jumped in and fixed all the kinks but tears just started streaming down my face while I was working because I had so much else I needed to be doing to just stay above water... 
Is it horrible everywhere (globally) or is it just here that we are being asked to complete the impossible?

Answer

Who ever is going to trash teachers for complaining are idiots. Teaching now as been harder than before ( even before Covid). They expect us to do miracle with no ressources. I’m not working right now because i’m pregnant, but all my friends and colleagues are just out of breath already and it’s not even December yet. I’m lucky because I teach phys ed and, in general, parents expect less of us so imagine now. 
I think you are doing amazing! Just think about ALL the kids you are helping. The difference you are making ! 💚

Answer

I teach in NY and we are full virtual right now. I feel your pain. This is my 8th year teaching and it is by far the hardest year! The parents are the hardest part for me this year. They expect a ton of flexibility, which I can understand to an extent, but they are not nice about it. I’m also struggling with having the kids work independently. I know most of them are getting too much help on work, so I’m getting inaccurate data. I keep telling them AND the parents that I don’t want to know what their older brother or grandma can do, I want to know what THEY can do. It falls on deaf ears. I have parents emailing me almost daily complaining about how much this sucks as if I’m the one who chose virtual learning. Two of my kids’ parents email every single day without fail with a load of excuses as to why their child wasn’t on the live lessons for the day (since Sept). Then, on social media, the community rips teachers apart saying we don’t deserve full pay because we’re not “in school”. I would much rather be in school teaching as normal than this. I’m almost 37 weeks pregnant with a toddler. It’s a lot to handle. Just keep doing your best, document everything and set boundaries to separate your work life from home life. ❤️

Answer

My mother is a teacher, 32 years of experience, written tons of grants for her school, teacher of the year award 2xs, national board certified and used to be the instructor for the classes, created a learning lab focusing on stem activities got a grant for a 3-d printer, made a school garden  and was featured by National Geographic for the green space. Blah blah she is an overachiever of a teacher. And is amazing at it. She is 3 years away from her retirement goal and I tried to convince her to retire cuz it’s risky, she’s teaching kindergarten and we all know how 5year olds sneeze and don’t wash their hand 🙄 she thought about it a lot but told me she can’t. It would kill the industry and she’s doing her part to keep it going. There is a new kindergarten teacher at her school, first year teaching was last year🤦🏻‍♀️ she told me it’s like playing baseball your whole like then one day they hand you a hockey stick, you still know how to play but the function of it isn’t the same....and imagine if your coach quit 30 mins into the first inning. I swear to god I cried when she told me this. You got this Girl for every time your overwhelmed just know no one is great at hitting a baseball with a hockey stick .

Answer

From the side of the parent I fucking hate it. I hate it for teachers and for myself.
I have 3 doing virtual school right now and the last 2 days were early release because of school conferences and I honestly had one scheduled for today but I just skipped it. I am slowly dying at this. Only because I have too much going on at one time to keep up.
If they were in school physically I’d worry because cases are popping up in our district for kids and it’s stupid to constantly have to have them do virtual anyway when class closes.
I’m over it all. The constant zoom all day plus the boatloads of work given and keeping them on schedule while I’m trying to keep my own plus my 2 year old busy is a fucking drag. I just wish school was only asynchronous and then I’d be ok because they can complete things throughout the day. 
But all of this and being pregnant is a killer because it’s me home plus work plus their school plus my 2 year old and daddy works outside the home.

Answer

I'm not a teacher, but my baby brother is. His school is open for in person learning, however he does prepare homework (anatomy) and is to be completed and submitted online. Recently, he has started to provide paper copies too so they have no excuse but people are still being difficult about it. He also runs his own football academy and has dropped his hours to part time coaching to try and find new ways to accommodate everyone fairly and people STILL complain. He is under a lot of stress and I can only imagine what the STEM teachers are going through. 
I am on the other side of things, at University all of my theory is online distance but we are on campus part time for laboratory sessions. I personally don't find it as terrible as everyone makes it out to be, and I have my first degree to compare it to pre-covid. I somewhat prefer the semi-distance method. The majority of my class mates complain at any given moment and its getting rather annoying now. (although, I did complain when our haematology professor fell asleep during a lab session)
I really do feel for teachers or anyone working in education right now.

Answer

I teach grade 2 in Montréal and we are doing in-person teaching thankfully. I hated, absolutely hated, remote teaching. You couldn’t please anyone. Either they wanted multiple zoom meetings a day or they wanted one a week with assignments given daily. Either way parents were complaining. 
We have a lot of cases but I am grateful to be teaching a relatively normal schedule. I have a small class in a small school so not too much has changed.

Answer

My mom is a 3rd grade teacher in Kansas and she is absolutely miserable right now. I feel so bad for her.

Answer

Ok teach, let me say one thing.
THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DO!!!!
This year is so messed up for us parents. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the teachers trying to figure this all out as well. This is my first year homeschooling my ONE child, who’s in first grade. And it’s hard. I absolutely love it, but it’s HARD!!!

Answer

Currently teaching kindergarten 100% online, and I think we will still be doing this in May.
It’s awful. God, it is so awful.

Answer

Not a teacher but a good friend is here in the UK. He’s drowning in work and is struggling to juggle face-to-face teaching, online material and having a form tutor group. He’s showing signs if severe stress and his depression is worse than ever. The school has had their budget cut again, so he refused a pay rise and only took his NQT pay rise (and automatic rise that is given to those who complete their NQT year), because he said he’d rather the school have more money in the pot than in his pocket when he can afford his rent and bills on the pay he’s on now. 
There seems to be no support for any of the teachers even though they have a heavier work load. When you factor in all this on top of being in a pandemic, not being able to visit family or friends, or just live life the way you’re used to, it’s not surprising that teachers across the globe are suffering. 
I’ve always had mad respect for teachers, but never more so than now. I used to want to be a teacher but chose not to because I didn’t think I could handle it, and I’m so glad that in the current climate I didn’t. Just know that you’re working so hard and although a few might trash you for doing your best, the majority, whether they’re students, parents/guardians, or just those who appreciate what you do, are so thankful for the job you do. You all rock and when your students become adults, I have no doubt that they will look back at this time and be so grateful for all the hard work, tears and stress you guys put yourselves under to make sure these kids get an excellent future. You got this 💜

Is teaching in 2020 a nightmare everywhere or just here?

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