There are so many unknowns right now because of the spread of the coronavirus and it has turned everyone’s world upside down. Especially those in the education field. Our plans were all put on pause and we were sent home to start learning from a distance. It was a hard adjustment to say the least.
Many teachers are wondering how we can possibly plan for a new school year with all of the unknowns. How is education going to change after coronavirus? Will things ever go back to normal?
There are a lot of changes in education that will likely be happening soon
There will likely be a surge in innovations like live broadcasts and online learning. Our online learning system now was rushed and imperfect. Now that there is such a huge need for this, it will likely lead to more streamlined and easy ways for us to connect with our students from a distance.
Private education may grow. There are many who won’t agree with the way that public schools are handling social distancing guidelines and that could lead to a surge in parents enrolling their kids in private schools. This means we might be seeing smaller class sizes.
This experience will build resilience. This pandemic has forced us all to be adaptable and go with the punches whether we liked it or not. This will encourage more people to be creative problem solvers and work together more to reach our objectives.
Budgets will change. School districts rely on state money which comes from taxes and income. Both of these sources took a hit with the economic downturn because of the coronavirus shutdown. This means that budgets for schools will be getting cut which could impact many facets of education.
Everything will be more digital. People are already weary of any cough or sneeze so extra precautions will be taken wherever possible, including the way we teach. The use of distance learning and digital classes will likely increase in the months to come.
Students are living history right now with the Coronavirus of 2020. It is a difficult time for them because of all the major changes in their life. Students can take responsibility to help protect the world by washing their hands, staying home when they are sick or using social distancing.
I am so thankful for everything that is part of my life right now including you! My life is drastically different than it was a couple years ago! I’ve never talked about it openly because I was fearful, insecure, and riddled with anxiety.
A couple years ago, it was my 20th year of teaching. My son was in 5th grade at our school. For me, it was a year of H-E (double hockey sticks!) For the first time in my career, I had a principal who hated me. Still not sure why. Not only did she hate me, but she got the rest of the staff, who I considered my family for 18 years, to pretty much dislike and/or avoid me too. I was threatened with my evaluation, lied to, challenged with impossible tasks, given 5 MAJOR behavior problem students who physically hurt me and the other children regularly, and faced life-threatening health problems because of the stress. Prior to the last year, I had been a well-liked and highly effective teacher who loved her career path.
Depression
Without going into a lot of detail, I suffered from depression, high blood pressure, and anxiety/panic attacks. For the first time, I had been broken. My mind, my spirit, and my body were broken! I consider myself lucky that prior to that difficult year, I had never been on any kind of prescription drugs. But I knew after waking up in fetal position next to my husband, crying that I didn’t want to go to school, and losing 16 lbs. in one week due to stress, that I had to give in to what my Dr. suggested… A good therapist and drugs. I was on anti-depressants, blood pressure medicine, cholesterol medication, and XANAX! So basically, I was drugging myself to go to work. I even developed an eye twitch. If I wasn’t at work, I was fine, but the thought of going every morning would begin a cycle that was dangerous to my health. I fought it because I wanted to stay in the classroom. I loved the students and figured I could transfer the next school year. It was important to me to be there for my own son who was in 5th grade. But, even on the medication, I continued to be harassed.
Abuse
After getting beat with a chair again, punched in the stomach, calling the front office for help, and realizing no one was coming to help me, I knew I had to leave the classroom. Seeing the scared faces and hearing the ear-piercing screams of the other kindergarten students as they watched their teacher get hit repeatedly, shook me to the core. I knew the only reason they were in this situation was because the principal didn’t like me. So, I had to remove myself. Now, if you question, why didn’t you report it? Why didn’t you collect data on the principal? etc.… Let me tell you, I did. On doctors orders, I left two months before the school year was over. I still had to pick up my son at school, so Xanax to the rescue. I dealt with a staff who wanted to know what was wrong with me, and because I wasn’t ready to tell them, they made up their own inaccurate stories of why I left my dream career.
My husband planned several mini vacations because I was told to relax. I know he was thinking this was the end of the wife he knew when we married. These getaways were frowned upon by staff (according to the county investigator’s report) because I was on sick leave. Little did everyone know the pain I was suffered from because WHY would I post that on Facebook? In hindsight, I should have never posted pictures of me relaxing on social media. But, in my defense, at the time I was on medication. Maybe it was also the need to let people know that I wasn’t completely broken too.
The LAST STRAW
It wasn’t until my son’s 5th grade graduation where his Certificate of Completion was conveniently removed from the pile that I pushed for a harassment investigation with the school board. Seeing her smirking face as my son sat alone in a row as his friends got their certificate knowing she was behind it as my son signaled to us that he was okay was a total mind-blowing experience. I had to beg my husband to leave before he made a scene as anger filled his “un-Xanaxed” body. Other parents were stunned, taking video and making noises to get staff’s attention that a student was forgotten. I had to stand up to tell them they forgot my son. Anyway, an investigation was done which amounted to nothing even though 9 other teachers came forward with their painful stories of harassment they endured from the principal.
The New Chapter
After that experience, even though I was offered other jobs, I decided I could not go back to teaching in this district. I took me about 6 months to wane by body off all the medication that was mandatory for my survival. Crazy how stress can mess up your entire body! I tell you this story for two reasons. One is if you are experiencing anything like this, you can know that you can come out of it stronger than you were prior to the experience. That you can find confidence, security, and begin a new beautiful chapter to your life. I found a love and passion for making educational resources that I didn’t know existed. Through this experience, I developed strategies to build my confidence back up and to become healthy again. Keep up with this blog in the future, and I will share some of the strategies that helped me. I would have never left the classroom to discover this passion without that crazy experience. The second reason is I want you to know that YOU are part of my new chapter. I love making teaching resources and helping teachers like you save time and money. This is one reason why I offer freebies and discounts regularly. Thank you for being there for me and for your students! My heart will always be in education. I value you!
The MEGA Labor Day Giveaway is here! We have teamed up with some AMAZING TpT authors to bring you 5 SHOPPING SPREES just for TEACHERS! We KNOW your job is a LABOR of ♥LOVE ♥ and want to THANK YOU for your dedication to your students!
We will raffle off: ⭐ 5 $200 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Cards ($1000 in TpT gift cards)
Refer your teacher friends to increase your chances to win daily! Raffle Ends at 11:59 PM EST on 9/7/18. The lucky winners will be announced by 9/9/18. #LABORDAYLOVE
? Good Luck to you and all your Teacher Friends!
You must be a teacher to win and provide proof by providing your school name and grade level within 48 hours after contacted or a new random winner will be selected. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook or Teachers Pay Teachers. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this page and not to Facebook or Teachers Pay Teachers. No Purchase Required.
If you want to know what it is like to be lucky enough to work for Teachers Pay Teachers and attend the conference in Anaheim, you are in the right place! The BEST part of this conference is making connections in person with all the other teacher-authors you only knew on-line. Here is a picture of the Fabulous Five (well, that is the name I gave us after meeting at the 2016 conference in Florida), posing with our Peace, Love, TpT shirts. Meet Tori from Teach with Tori, Kelly from Mrs. Avery’s Island, Lisa from Lisa Taylor Teaching the Stars, and Shelly from Appletastic!
Attending the 9 Step Process workshop with Shelly Rees, is a MUST! She offers an awesome course for teacher-authors who need to focus on how to plan a product from start to finish! PRICELESS! There is a great Facebook group you can join if you are in the course. This is how the five of us became close friends. The group is a positive place to gain valuable information to help you grow and connect with others. This year I had the honor to sit with educational expert, Deanna Jump! She is such an inspirational person who is down-to-earth and easy to talk to about the business.
Erin Cobb and Catherine Reed were the inspirational teacher-author speakers who told their personal stories. They both inspired the rest of us that hard work and dedication can produce great success.
If you never met our “Director of Happiness”, Amy Borrell Berner, you HAVE to take the initiative to meet her. She is exactly what her title conveys.
After a long day of doing what teachers love… LEARNING, TpT hosted a happy hour to help us all decompress and meet other teacher-authors. This is where a few of us were able to talk to the BEST CEO, Adam Freed. I totally felt like I was one of the girls in The Bachelor, willing to interrupt other teacher-authors to steal him away for a chance to talk to him. (Sorry, to whoever I booted out of the way.) It was happy hour though, so I can blame it on the wine. ? I don’t regret it!
Another super nice, intelligent and fun teacher-author is Chris Kesler. He is the best for learning how to build an email list and engage a TpT audience! We attended his session and discovered a lot of tips and tricks to grow our businesses. You can see him below with me and fellow teacher-author Sarah Barnett, who is my new TpT BFF. ? We hit it off as if we have been friends forever. We danced at the Happy Hour with awesome Shem, leading us as DJ/Motivator. She lead a great session about how to Put Some STEAM in your STEP. This is what the conference is all about, meeting people who share your interests, inspire you and help you along your journey.
Should you bring your family? YES! My family went to enjoy the tourist attractions while I was busy learning at the conference. I loved seeing them at the end of the day!
I learned so much! My head feels like it is going to explode with new information, but I’m excited, motivated and (a little) exhausted at the same time. This Dr. Seuss quote sums it up. I’m looking forward to next year in NASHVILLE! So, plan now, if you need some inspiration, tips and tricks.
