Thread by @reubenmahaffy

3rd week of back to school, some thoughts:

I saw two different family members today. One dropped off a loaf of bread, knocked on the door, then retreated down the stairs for a distanced visit. The second came to the door and masked before talking to us.

And it hit me...

1/

It's going to be a lonely year.

This summer, our cohort included these people. Because my spouse and I are both teachers, our cohort is now more than 200 other children. And our own family support group aren't part of it any more. They can't be.

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And in a lot of ways that's ok. We became teachers because we have a heart for kids, and we take our duty of care (in loco parentis) seriously. We've always helped students with more than the 3 Rs, so this is in our wheelhouse.

But it's going to be a lot.

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It's hitting me how much of an ask this is for teachers

We're not used to helping carry out intense sanitizing routines. We're not used to helping students find the balance between safety procedures and sanity. Sussing out the situations when masks and guards can come down

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All of those new little tasks take up time and energy. Cleaning, reporting, tracking, documenting. Moving classes so kids don't have to. Extra supervsion.

We're running around like chickens with our heads cut off months before we normally do that.

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So when I hear the education minister say that she has done anything and everything to support reentry - that school boards want for nothing - that teachers' anxieties are normal, because everyone has anxiety?

It's patronizing.

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Because my class sizes are no smaller than a regular year. Because my students still sit three to a table. Because the only support this government has provided me has been 2 masks, a 4L jug of hand sanitizer, and a face shield that never showed up.

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And because I love my students I will show up every day and do my best to keep them safe. We'll sanitize and mask and count on being a little bit lucky. And I will love the time I spend with my students.

I'll stop seeing family and friends for their own safety.

8/

So know that I'm not complaining about being back with my students.

But _don't_ tell me that you are doing anything and everything possible to limit the possibility of transmission within schools, @AdrianaLaGrange, because you're not.

9/

And don't tell me that boards couldn't reduce risk with more funding, because they could.

Don't patronize us. We'll head in to our schools, mask up, and do our absolute best. It wouldn't kill you to listen to us, but at the very least don't patronize us.

10/10