Students will disagree about how the Covid pandemic should be handled. What is the substitute teacher's responsibility?
Students will disagree about how the Covid pandemic should be handled. What is the substitute teacher's responsibility?
A couple of weeks ago a football announcer called Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback of the Packers, the biggest jerk in the league, to which Aaron Rodgers called the announcer abem Find out what this has to do with your classroom today. All right, something happened recently on a discussion board that made me want to record this episode. Now, let me say this right off the bat, you are not going to get my opinion, or me trying to act like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the pandemic, because I don't know. This episode will not be about handling COVID situations in your classroom. As far as the disease goes, it will be instead talking about how to handle classroom situations that are related to COVID because of the students having differing opinions. So that's what we're going to talk about today. Real quick. Before I start, I gotta say this, this past week, was the most listened to ever more downloads ever for this podcast than we've had since it began back in 2018. So I appreciate that. It really surprised me. I was actually on vacation when it happened. So thank goodness for all you guys out there. And I hope you continue to share stories with me as well. So the very first the opening I was talking about there is a sports announcer named the hub Arkush. He is a sports announcer I guess a commentator or maybe a writer that works for pro football talk. He is one of 50 media members who votes for the National Football League Most Valuable Player Award and he said he won't vote for Rogers, because he's the biggest jerk in the league. To which Rogers responded that I don't even know this guy, he must be an absolute bomb. And Rogers went on to say this, though award is not the most valuable vaccinated player, it's the most valuable player. Apparently our could arquus reason partially was the fact that Rogers had been exempt from getting a vaccine. So something else happened on a discussion board this week. That really that was the reason that I really wanted to record this episode. It was a discussion board about a vacation. And usually when I'm going to a location, I will go to a look for a Facebook page for that location and read some things, maybe post some things. So we were going on a good clip, everybody was posting a vacation, everybody was upbeat, and then somebody posted. Of course, none of this will happen if COVID kicks in. And I'm thinking, Okay, that is true. But why would you go out of your way to take the time to post that when everybody else is having general conversations about being excited about a vacation? Go back about three years? What if you were having the same kind of discussion, and somebody posted? Well, this wouldn't happen if one of your party gets sick before you leave? Well, that's the same thing. Why do we we wouldn't have never posted that three years ago. Why are we posting things like now? Are we just wanting to make sure that everybody knows that we're conscious about COVID? Let me go back a while. I'm going to go back to March 11 2020. Now, before you say Greg, please don't go through another boring story about what you were doing on the day you found out about the pandemic. We've all got our own stories. While I'm doing it. For this reason, the substitute teacher story in general is a little unique. I think mine might be one of the more unique stories you've heard because of being a sports official. I'll tell you how that kicks in here in a moment. And also because of things that happen on March 11 With is my birthday. Okay, so let's talk about that a little while. And then we'll go into a classroom discussion, we'll talk about some things that are going to come up in your class, not because a student has gotten sick, but because there's different opinions in your classroom about what we should do about this pandemic. So it was March 11 2020. I was excited. It was my birthday. We were going out to Olive Garden, which I love eating at Olive Garden. I know it's just a chain restaurant. And I just enjoyed going there. I'm so easy to please, I guess we were going to do that. We did do that and a movie later on. We had been reading about the possible virus that could in fact, you know, eventually become a strong situation. Keep in mind that we are a college basketball state. We don't have any pro teams in the state of Kentucky. But so both Kentucky basketball and Louisville basketball is really big. We're closer to Kentucky basketball here, although I have kids that attended both of those universities. So the reason I say that is the SEC basketball tournament postseason was getting ready to start that week. My daughter and her husband were planning on going to the tournament, well, we ate our meal at Olive Garden, everything was uneventful, the food was good. We go to see a movie. And all of a sudden, the beeper on my phone starts going off. And I'm starting to see post about the NCAA is considering canceling the March Madness tournament for that year. And I'm thinking what is going on. And sure enough, by the time the evening with was over, the SEC tournament said that it might play without anybody in the stadium. And then finally they canceled the whole thing. The NCAA canceled the basketball tournament that week. I know there were some conferences that actually stopped a game in the middle of the game and sent everyone home. So everything was just happening so quickly. That was on a Wednesday, and I had Thursday and Friday already scheduled to substitute teacher so I go into that school the next day, it was a middle school where I was substitute teaching, but had been reading throughout the night how sports seasons were in jeopardy. And I remember, you know, I've talked about before how I like to stand in the hallway and watch the kids. They came in that morning, I could see you know, they got their softball bags, their baseball bags, because they were going to practice that afternoon, you could see the the bat sticking out of the back of their sports bag. And, you know, I could just kind of feel what was getting ready to happen, because I had already gotten an email from our scheduler, that there was a chance that there wouldn't be a season that year. And that was just so against what I was expecting to happen. I mean, I had no idea that something like that could ever happen. Now the teacher that I was teaching for that day, had in fact anticipated I was teaching because she had a dentist appointment. But she anticipated it enough that she recorded a video to the students to say you all behaved for Mr. Collins today. Beyond that, here is the work that you'll have to do if we don't have school tomorrow. Well, obviously, not only did we not have school the next day, the entire school year, as far as in classroom situations were changing. By the end of the day, all the sporting events were canceled. The seasons were canceled. All that it was kind of heartbreaking for me not so much that I would miss it. But I wouldn't miss it. But also because it kind of breaks those kids hearts. How can you take that sport away from those kids? So all that was going on? We were in a new situation. Nobody wanted to get sick. I remember in those initial months how paranoid I was. I like to walk at home since I wasn't teaching I would walk every morning. And I remember the neighbors that would walk by me that I talked to forever. It just seemed like we were in such a weird place because we still want to talk but we didn't want to interact. We didn't want to get very close to each other the world was changing in that regard. I remember that. One of the softball slash volleyball players, one of their relatives, got the disease. And he survived. But he was in very bad shape there for a while there initially. And it was so unique because back then nobody had really encountered it yet. So it was such a story that it actually made our local newspaper when he was both admitted and recovered. And they had a good behind the scenes story about that. All that to say this, that's the way it was in 2020. When we began the school year, everybody was required to wear masks, we ended up wearing them the whole year, we began the year 2021. Wearing them, we are now not wearing them in the school system. So that kind of brings you up to date in that regard. But my point is this we went from I went from, I'll just say it that way, from being totally paranoid back in 2020. Wanting to have a mask on all the time, not wanting to go out because I was scared to death with the with everything walk through the air. I know that's been disproven since then. And again, I don't want to get into facts and end up saying something wrong. So that's the last I'll say about the disease itself. But now we're in a situation in 2022, January of 2022, that even my mindset has changed. I still know that it's serious. But I don't quite have that paranoia side to me anymore. Do some people have that? In their mind? Still? Yes. Do some of my family members still feel that way? Yes. So here's what has happened. Now. All of those attitudes, those mindsets. All those are in the classroom now. So when the teacher goes in, when the substitute teachers go in, you're going to have to deal with the fact that different students see things differently than others. Now, most of the time, it's going to be based on what their parents or their guardians think. I've taught a lot of high school this year, so that the high schoolers will, they'll they'll exercise their own opinions in that regard. But either way, we did not have to deal with anything like that two years ago. Now we do. What do we do when there are differing opinions on what should what a student should be doing in the classroom? First of all, teachers substitute teachers, one thing you're going to have to be aware of in the classroom are the configurations because most every school now requires a seating chart. Now, I always like seating charts anyway, because it helped me learn names, I could call attendance from the name from the seating chart and actually kind of hide the fact that I had forgotten one of the students names, so I always liked them anyway. Now they're even more important because if a student does get sick in the classroom, then that's called contract tracing, the students that were sitting around them will have to their their families will have to be notified. So teachers, substitute teachers, you're going to have to get used to that lifestyle. Our lifestyle has changed in that regard. I remember back in August, the very first day, I had a student who ended up testing positive. And he told me later when he came back to school, thank goodness that, from what I can tell, and again, I will not say this as a fact, I will just say this is what I'm picking up from people in general is, while a vaccine, just like with the flu vaccine won't guarantee that you don't catch it. But it is supposed to lessen the symptoms for most people, or the outcome. When if you do catch it in that regard. Well, this student was telling me, he remembers that day, he had to test that night. That day, he said, he put a starburst and he in his mouth and he said Starbursts always have such a burst of flavor than he knew when he put that Starburst in his mouth, and he couldn't taste anything, that he was in trouble. So he's a great kid. He didn't get too sick. But of course, he did have to quarantine we had to quarantine some students around him. So that's what's big in schools right now is getting used to using those seating charts. Before you probably weren't very serious about it especially substitutes out there. If they weren't setting in the proper seat. Maybe you just let them go. Now you have to make sure Make sure they are in their seat, so that if you get that call, who's sitting next to this person, you can answer it intelligently. Now, if you're working in an area in a school system like I am, that for the moment, as the district has decided no longer to wear mask, well, you're still going to have some students that were mask, you might have some other students that make fun of the ones who wear the mask. Regardless of which side of that argument, I don't really call it an argument. But which side of the discussion you are on, that should really have nothing to do with how you handle that situation, if you think people should be wearing a mask all the time, or if you think people have the right to choose on their own and not wear a mask, it's not smart for you, as a teacher to invoke that your opinion on the class because you're going to get some people upset, you're going to upset if you're on the no mass side, you're going to get the mass people upset. If you're on the mass side, you're going to get the non mass people upset. So instead, just like every other situation, you know, whether it's what a president should be in office, or whether it's you should stand for the national anthem, you know, people have the right to make their own decisions go for the national anthem, I will tell you what I have said in the past as far as the national or in our case, at the school, it's the Pledge of Allegiance. Some of the high school students won't stand up. And I once had a situation where another one of the students that was standing up said you should be standing up. And here's what I said. And I was hoping this covered both sides of the argument, I just said, Listen, we live in a country where we're free to exercise, whatever we want to within the legalities of the system, which gives you the right to stand if you want gives you the right to protest legally if you want. That's the country that we're we're in, we're in a free country in the United States. And we have the right to do that. So I tried to squelch that type of disgust Gushin immediately so that the people know who are standing that they're doing the right thing for themselves. People are not who know they are setting, they are doing the right thing for what they're supporting. And that the country allows us to do that. It's the same with at least the discussion side of things is the same. When we're on both sides of the argument of this of the pandemic. I don't want to support one side over the other. But what's going to happen when you're faced with a situation in your classroom where the discussions come up? What if somebody says Mr. Collins, do you think we should be wearing masks now or not? How do you answer that? Here's what I usually say. I've read that when we do wear a mask, our medical history improves, regardless of what we're talking about colds, anything like that, it improves a little bit. At the same time. People with breathing difficulties have trouble wearing a mask. There's all these different reasons. I will say I admire every student in here for standing up for what they believe in. I remember watching an episode I think it was The Wonder Years where there was a student, Kevin Arnold, the little star of the show. He loved the teacher because the teacher supported the students. I like to consider myself in that category. If they want to stand out, you know, these students didn't go through Vietnam, they didn't go through protesting a war. But they still have the right to stand up for what they believe in. So that's usually the way I would start a conversation in this regard. I don't care which side of the argument you're on. We have the freedom in this country. And we do have some international listeners. I'm sorry that I'll apologize to I know we one of our countries that pop up all the time is the Netherlands. So we have some listeners in the Netherlands. And I appreciate that. It's hard for me to you'll just have to kind of structure the discussion to pertain to the area that you live in. But in my opinion ticular area, I was always emphasize the freedoms that we have in the country, I will say that I think it's just the courteous thing to do, to not think that you're so free, that you are free to be around people in an unhealthy way. In other words, you wouldn't just walk up to somebody and sneeze on them on purpose. At the same time, be cautious when you find yourself around someone who is very paranoid. And maybe rightfully so for knowing loved ones that have been in medical situations, you have to deal with that you have Don't be a stumbling block to them, you have to handle yourself in such a way that you know that even if you choose not to wear a mask, you, you still want to be healthy. Even though you choose not to wear a mask, you still want the other people to be healthy. We should as teachers teach a high level of respect of each other, don't disrespect somebody just because they choose the mask or they don't choose the mask. Don't disrespect somebody, just because they haven't had a loved one that has had the disease. Whereas you have I think the whole situation is going to come down with how we deal from a respectful standpoint. Can a couple of teachers get into debate on whether or not we should do various things? Well, I guess so. I mean, we're adults, we can have those discussions. But when we're leading a class, and even the adults discussions, don't let it get to a point where you don't enjoy working with the teacher anymore. Keep things motivated. I posted on our substitute teachers lounge Facebook page this week, I encouraged discussions on this Facebook group, even if we disagree, as long as we don't turn to slandering each other. So I think that's the answer here. Maybe you could have some constructive discussion about why people do one thing and why people do another. But you're going to have to decide what's working best as in that classroom, substitute teachers, every class that you go on, into now, probably for months, and maybe years, you're going to have some that handle situations in one way. Some that handle situations in another, you've got to figure out how you are going to show them how to be respectful, in spite of the fact that you might disagree with their stance on this situation. Doesn't matter what the topic is. teach those students how to be respectful of each other, teach the mass wearers to be respectful of those that don't wear them, teach the ones that don't wear them to be respectful of those that do. And, as always teach them to do whatever it's going to take to keep us healthy at all times. So here's the bottom line, guys, the world has changed. That's a cliche. Now, I get so sick of commercials that still say these trying times when get over it. These are the normal times now. We have to deal with situations, not just pandemics, we have to deal with things that are going on in our government. We have to deal with things with goma, maybe in our local cities, we have to deal with maybe taxes that have gone up, maybe your students bring in those discussions because they just read about them in the newspaper or they hear the parents complaining at home. Regardless, you have to teach them to respect each other. I love debates, I love pulling out those scholastic weekly readers and banned debate topics. And I love them debating with each other. I've told the high school students, I'm not really I was gonna say joke with them, but it's really serious. The ones that want to go into law ask them, could you think you could argue either side of the same argument? And a lot of them will say they do. And I said, Well, you might have a future as a lawyer then. So bottom line, I think I said that already. But bottom line is this, regardless of the discussion in your classroom, regardless of its seriousness. I don't know if I would just cut people off. But make sure your students respect each other in the way they talk about things. I usually say a little bit. I don't say anything about the pandemic, of course, but when I go into a new classroom, which I'm going to do on Monday, I'm picking up a little middle school between high school jobs. I'm going to go in Monday and say I love discussions of any type as long as we do it in a respectful way. And I get that right out of the way right off the bat. So Guys, we are a little bit different now. We're a lot different now than we were three years ago. Guess what? It was different 10 years ago. It was different 20 years ago, it was different 50 years ago, maybe for different reasons than what we're going through today. But still, things are important enough that you have to respect everybody's decisions and teach your students to do the same thing.