“I was already worrying about the next school year. Some of my students, I fell in love with right away. Others, it took a little more time. Will you give them that time? When you struggle with them, maybe it will help if you think of all the teachers who loved them for years. If you need help, I’ll be here.”
‘I hope you’ll take time to get to know their strengths and weaknesses. That will make it so much easier for me to let them go.’: K-5 teacher urges middle school teachers, ‘Your students will always be OUR students.’
‘Someone WILL get COVID-19 in your school.’ My heart ached as they put their masks on. It isn’t supposed to be this way.’: Preschool teacher shares experience during pandemic
“It’s not supposed to be this way. I started teaching 15 years ago. Never did I think I’d be navigating teaching during a pandemic. Children who have been home for months are now going to be in my classroom. I honestly can’t believe it’s come to this.”
‘She said, ‘It’s pretty sad special ed kids will be allowed to attend school 5 days a week, but other kids can only go for 2!’: Special needs mom responds to school reopening backlash, ableism
“She continued, ‘The kids that are going further in life aren’t the special ed kids, sorry to say but it’s the truth. It’s easy to manage the class size and have them all attend.'”
‘He looked at me after only 15 minutes of school and said, ‘How many more minutes?’ I almost lost it. It broke me inside.’: Mom vows ‘I will do my best to be your teacher this year, buddy’
“My momma’s heart was broken yesterday as I sat with Camden on his ‘first day’ of Kindergarten–8 hours online. 6-year-olds are supposed to play and be so excited for their first day of school, not broken.”
‘Welcome to Kindergarten! Look at my cool face shield!!! Maybe you’ll get an astronaut helmet too! Let’s learn a hand-washing song! Are you ready?’: Teacher urges ‘put trust in the gap’
“I wish we could take you through every single way we are preparing to protect your child, but we simply don’t have enough time. Put trust in the gap and give your child’s teacher some grace.”
‘We buy supplies. We prepare for gunmen. We spend nights and weekends away from family to make your children feel supported.’: Teacher urges ‘give us a minute’ among school reopening crisis
“I spent today removing my personal belongings from my classroom. Nothing but empty desks remained. I cried all the way home. Right now, we’re scared to death.”
‘It’s all there. The pencils, the masks, the notebooks. She’s chosen to send them back into the world.’: Mom weighs in on school reopening crisis, ‘She hopes it will be enough’
“It’s a calculated risk, and not one she is taking lightly. Every cough will be monitored. Every runny nose will be analyzed. There will be temperature checks every morning, and daily reminders of hand washing and hand sanitizing. She hopes it will be enough, and she struggles because she feels like she isn’t.”
‘It’s sitting one on one with a child. Making sure they know you care, they’re heard, and they matter.’: Teacher talks reality of teaching, ‘if you think you know, think again’
“It’s giving so much it leaves you empty. It’s finding a way to refill your tank, because they will need you again tomorrow. It’s simply taking them by the hand and hoping you have instilled enough trust and lessons and love in them, that one day, they will let you go.”
‘Daddy knows and loves Mrs. Goodner, and I do, too.’ It shocked me.’: Mom thanks teacher for supporting daughter through grief journey, ‘It meant the world to us’
“Her whole world had just come crashing down around her. But she just kept reaching out and hugging her teacher. It shocked me.”
‘You may not be getting the best parts of kindergarten, but you’ll be getting the best parts of me.’: Kindergarten teacher shares touching letter to incoming students
“Instead of creating spaces to come together, I’m thinking of ways to keep us apart. I’m used to letting students know what the year ahead will be like, but this year not even the teacher knows what to expect. Kindergarten is coming and it feels nothing like it should.”
