To My Fellow Readers:
This is a different kind of blog, more of a serious note. As many of you might know, I am an art teacher. I teach PreK to 8th grade art, and as you can imagine, since the shutdown, it's been a bit rough. As the school year begins to draw closer and closer, a looming sort of dread has been hanging over my head. I can't fight the incoming juggernaut, but I feel the need to provide my point of view.
First and foremost, don't think we don't want to go back to the classroom. I can tell you first hand I HATED trying to figure out how to teach art digitally. I spent my spring break making at least 2-3 videos for students each day, just so I could be ahead of them. But I am also aware that quite a few of my students and co-workers have underlying health issues, myself included. We want to be safe, not just for ourselves, but for your students as well. We don't want to have to choose, and many of us feel like we have to. That's why you see so many teachers retiring right now: they feel like they have no choice in the matter. And as an art teacher who teaches at not one, but two schools, I feel doubly at risk. It's scary, but this is also an economy that I am unable to retire or quit from my job because I feel at risk, since I would not be able to find anything else. Plus, I love what I do! I love coming up with unique lessons, and showing students a new way of thinking! But this sort of graph shown below scares me.
I also want to take a moment to talk about supply lists: DO NOT DISREGARD THEM! This is a year when you cannot disregard them, but you have to double whatever you need. NO TEACHER IS ALLOWED TO PROVIDE SUPPLIES! Not even pencils! Whatever your students' teachers are sending home as a supply list, please do not roll your eyes and think "Oh, my kid can get this at school or from a friend." NO THEY CAN'T!!! Especially at my school, sharing will not be allowed. Even for an art classroom, which makes things harder for me especially. If I were a parent, I would be taking the class supply list, and doubling it, no joke. I would also be getting extra supplies while the sales are going on. And I don't just mean sales at Target or Walmart. I mean Dollar Tree, CVS, Five Below, ANYWHERE!!! And even for art supplies, you don't need to go to Michaels or any specialty art store to get anything. All of the places I listed above sell whatever you need for an art class. And I guarantee, not only will the art teachers thank you, but the regular teachers will as well, if you student is extra prepared! And by going for the sales NOW, you can save more than if it was during the school year. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!! GET MORE SUPPLIES THAN NECESSARY!
Also: MASKS! I know not every school is requiring them, and even with my schools, for the littlest kids, they are optional. BUT THINK ABOUT IT! We all know that the masks aren't 100% foolproof, but they are better than nothing! Let me explain it as an art teacher: let's say everyone is sitting at a table doing a drawing. Someone chooses to use glitter, which if you don't know how glitter works, STICKS TO EVERYTHING!!!! Now, that person pours glitter, no matter how carefully, over their paper. Once they get enough, they have to take off the excess, which they do by blowing. How many people have glitter all over their paper now?
Lastly, I want to circle back to health. And I don't mean the health of the faculty, but the health of the students. While I might work in private schools, they aren't wealthy. In fact, they are on the poorer end. These are the sort of schools where many students get reduced or free lunch, and many are on scholarships. While there is nothing wrong with this, this does mean that sometimes, students come to school when sick. They are given fever reducing medicine, or something else, to make sure they can function during the school day. And while I can understand that for parents, a sick child can mean the difference between staying home from work or making a living, this is not the time to further risk your child. Your child's immune system will be down, making them further susceptible to any illness, COVID-19 included. You have no idea who might have the illness, because they could be asymptomatic for days. People don't typically show symptoms until Day 6, if they even show them at all. Ever hear of Typhoid Mary? She was a cook that got MANY people sick (and plenty died) with typhoid, and she NEVER showed any symptoms herself. Seriously, look it up.
Please take this seriously. I know many of us are frustrated, but I don't want to see your kids sick, and I don't want your kids to hear I'm sick or in the hospital. It's a scary thought. Please take everything your schools are saying seriously, because yes, we are trying to help you, but we can only do so much.
