Human First, Teacher Second
Even through a screen, we need to be available for our students
There are currently eight different groups of students I interact with every week.
For most, I have never taught them face to face, but our interactions are limited to our zoom sessions where I spend 45 minutes teaching them a single subject as a supplement to their main teacher’s instruction.
It would be easier to pretend that I am just a teacher, and check my humanity at my computer before I ever hit the “start meeting” button.
It is such a short amount of time, and we always have a lot to cover, but I know that teachers serve more than one role in their lives.
We teach, of course, but we also are a trusted adult. Someone outside of their immediate family that they feel comfortable talking to.
In this pandemic year, it is more important than ever that we allow some of the “off topic” conversations when we can, because those are the moments that the students feel heard.
Their parents are stressed, trying to parent in a pandemic as well as many working from home as well, dealing with their own day to day struggles.
