Weary and two years behind, they work to help kids catch up.
A recent article in the Star Tribune highlighting the stress on teachers as they manage children’s trauma, social emotional needs and academics. Here is an excerpt of the full article.
Compared to the months of distance and hybrid learning, this school year looked — at least from the outside — to be a more normal one than the last. But teachers across the state are saying it’s already proved to be the hardest of their careers.
They’re exhausted, scrambling to get students caught up academically, all while noticing kids — particularly elementary schoolchildren — are nearly two years behind in their social skills.
Then there’s the revolving door of students coming in and out of COVID quarantines — and the challenge of ensuring they’re learning while at home. Widespread school staffing shortages mean teachers are having to fill multiple roles, with some even taking on custodial work or driving buses. If too many teachers are out with no substitutes, schools may have to switch back to periods of distance learning.
In addition, the growing politicization and polarization of education topics, from mask mandates to history curriculum, have brought a new level of tension and distraction to school conversations.
It feels like this huge push to get it all in — to catch students up on what they missed, all while trying to get these kids confident, independent and believing they are capable of success in school,
said Jean Voigt, a second-grade teacher at Kennedy Community School in St. Cloud.
Shortages of substitutes, bus drivers and support staff have accelerated the exhaustion teachers are facing. The issue isn’t limited to Minnesota; it’s proved crippling in schools across the country. Districts in Denver and Seattle, for example, were forced to cancel in-person classes last week because they simply didn’t have enough staff.
Specht said that in the short term, school leaders need to find ways to allow teachers the time to plan lessons and grade. Longer-term solutions will need to look at effective recruitment and retention of educators and school staff.
We recently wrote a post on how we as educators move forward in 2022 to support children and one another.