Temperature checks… hoping students log into class… cleaning all day… reminding students about masks all day… becoming technology gurus overnight. These extra teachers tasks (I never thought I would be doing), have my head spinning and my body exhausted daily. I am comforted to know that I am not alone. We asked our friends from the Fearless First Grade group what tasks they do now that they never thought they’d be doing. Which ones if not ALL can you relate to?
“Check work exclusively on the computer. I’m so tired of screens! Haven’t gone through a stack of papers in 10 months. I miss touching and holding their work!” ~ Julianna K.
“Asking at 9 am who wants breakfast … for tomorrow.” ~ Ashley S.
“Teaching virtually and asking students to mute devices.” ~ Renee M.
“Cleaning toilets!” ~ Heather P.
“Discouraging kids from sharing toys and supplies.” ~ Allison M.
“Monitoring sugars and administering insulin. Learning to do insulin site changes. 
” ~ Melissa C.
” ~ Melissa C. “Computer programming to upload documents and work…Geeze had 3 years of information on computers and technology jammed into my brain in 3 weeks.” ~ Danielle M.
“Disinfecting every day.” ~ Lynette L.
“Asking students to put on pants.” ~ Bea H.
“Live streaming my classes.” ~ Rebecca L.
“Wear a mask and teach online.” ~ Lisa G.
“Teaching virtually all day, every day since March. ” ~ Jen S.
” ~ Jen S. “Running the school website. When I first started teaching, schools didn’t even have websites.” ~ Be N.
“Being an attendance officer.” ~ Meredith R.
“Asking kids to not rescue their mask if it falls in the toilet.” ~ Nicole G.
We have definitely gained many extra teacher tasks during this school year with all of the procedures we have to follow due to COVID-19.
“Virtual lessons.” ~ Shelley S.
“Tieing strings on students’ masks to shorten them.” ~ Dawn R.
“Where do I begin? Maybe with the first task of the day. Inventorying and distribution a myriad of breakfast and lunch choices in the classroom, cleaning up spills, disinfecting while trying to salvage instructional time wearing a mask and a shield to a group of 15 first graders who missed months of instruction.” ~ Anne C.
“Submitting lessons and materials lists…to parents.” ~ Shelly S.
“Telling baby brother to leave the room and big brother alone during virtual.” ~ Bree T.
“Teaching and assessing students virtually.” ~ Shannon P.
“Wiping down everything with sanitizer.” ~ Amanda D.
“Making weekly lesson plans on a google spreadsheet.” ~ Nahil V.
“Washing masks each evening.” ~ Kay T.
“Taking temperatures before my students enter the room.” ~ Samantha S.
“Squatting in the bathroom so I can make sure one of my girls isn’t pooping on the floor .” ~ Sarah D.
” ~ Sarah D. “I never thought I would be a “clapping-response” teacher. I couldn’t stand it when I first started…. guess who uses that ALL THE TIME NOW?? Me… it grows on you lol.” ~ Stephanie S.
“Today I zoomed from home into three classes while the one teacher and 2 subs helped get things ready for students to transition to digital learning for next week. I taught a lesson to 60 in-person 1st graders, then reminded them how to access all of our digital platforms, then walked them through pulling one item at a time out of their desks and putting them into their backpacks to go home. It was good to feel useful though because the few teachers left at school have been drowning this week!” ~ Mandi D.
“Have my kids with me while simultaneously teaching on my computer at home.” ~ Crystal P.
” ~ Crystal P.“Attendance secretary.” ~ Megan C.
“Sanitizing desks and tables EVERY day and wearing a mask.” ~ Sara W.
I never thought that daily disinfecting would become an extra teacher task…
“Janitorial and cafeteria work. I waited tables to pay for college so I didn’t have to clean after people and serve them food.” ~ Paige M.
“Take on the role of a social worker, counselor, and parent for some students.” ~ Amy H.
“Muting kids.” ~ Rita M.
“Phonemic/phonetic lessons with a mask on.” ~ Katie C.
“I normally LOVE reading aloud to my class, but the spark is gone (for now). It’s hard to keep them engaged from across the room, they can’t see very well, they can’t hear my voice really well or see my facial expressions. I can’t wait until I can safely read on my carpet again.” ~ Stephanie J.
“Today I am hating the spraying down of the playground. It was windy and that stuff got all over me. I know it’s probably the smallest on the list but I was especially annoyed by it today. Phonics with a mask is very difficult.” ~ Conde B.
“Curriculum mapping. Maybe I’m lazy, but I think someone higher up should do this. Especially since we are not paid for it. Too much work, just let me teach.” ~ Tanika M.
“Contact tracing for COVID-19.” ~ Andrea S.
“Teaching from my dining room table with a dog in my lap.” ~ Michelle B.
“Wiping down tables after children eat breakfast in the room. Still waiting for my tip…I feel like a waitress.” ~ Debra E.
“Filling up water bottles every day because the kids aren’t allowed to use the water fountain.” ~ Lorrie B.
“Teaching students not to share and finding all the ways to keep my students away from each other instead of finding ways for them to work together.” ~ Tiffany H.
“So many home visits dropping off supplies.” ~ Kaitlyn S.
“Texting with parents on the daily.” ~ Kelly D.
“Mask checks- is it over your nose and mouth? (In-person) when I was fully remote taking content and learning to teach it virtually.” ~ Chatequa C.
“Asking students to put on a shirt during virtual learning!!” ~ Suellen P.
Teaching has definitely evolved over the years. It seems that with every passing school year, more and more gets added to our plates. More so this year than ever before. These extra teacher tasks sometimes make it hard to get up each day and return to school. But… the most important reason we all became teachers was to spark the love of learning in the students we teach and reach every day. And that task will never change. ❤️
Written by: Janessa Fletcher
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