REGIS INGE
ELA/Social Studies Teacher in Compton, California
“The day that we learned that the school year was going to be suspended due to the Coronavirus, I turned on the TV in our classroom. At first, neither the kids nor I really understood what was happening so I guess the biggest reaction was confusion. The kids seemed to get a little nervous when our principal came on the intercom to announce that all teachers needed to stay after school for an emergency meeting.
The focus of our after-school meeting was to figure out how to best continue instruction. How were we going to still educate our kids? Our school is one-to-one, so every student could take a device home; but what about the students who don’t have wifi? We also needed to ensure that the kids who depend on school to eat would still get fed. We didn’t want our kids being hungry. I know my kids. I know the ones who have challenging situations at home. I let them know that all they had to do was call me and I would buy them a gift certificate to the grocery store. I don’t want them ever worried about what they are going to eat.
The next day at school was the last day that I saw my kids. We didn’t do work. We just had what I call “family time.” Education is not just about books. I tried to explain to them everything that was being done was about keeping them safe
I miss my students. I miss being with them. I do as many Zoom calls with them as they want. Face-to-face contact is good. Sometimes they ask me when they are going to be able to come back to school. They are 11 year olds; and don’t understand the depth of the situation.
I want parents to know that we teachers are here to support you. You are not on your own. Some teachers are not empathetic to the plight of the parents. Many of the parents are still working; and teachers are giving the kids a lot of busy work or assignments where the concepts haven’t yet been taught. The parents aren’t necessarily equipped to teach the kids; yet the teachers still expect the work to get done. These teachers are arrogant. If I could talk to those teachers, I’d tell them not to make things so difficult. I’d tell them to stop saying to parents, “I understand what you are going through.” You don't. You really don’t.”
