Therefore, it wasn\u2019t a huge surprise to her when her school moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 in efforts to socially distance students from one another. This transition wasn\u2019t easy, but Ms. Reeves noted that she and her colleagues quickly pivoted and did what they could to make the transition as seamless as possible for their students.<\/p>\n
So I remember the last day with the kids was March 17th, because it was St. Patrick\u2019s Day. And it was the last day I was with them. And I remember saying, \u201cIt won\u2019t be long. Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019re going to be okay. We\u2019re just going to try this virtual stuff.\u201d . . . And I want to say teachers were rock stars right then. Because they were in a world that they were completely unprepared for. And you know what? At the end of the day, we pulled it off. It\u2019s rather amazing that we did that. But we were given one week, and then we had spring break. And so starting in the beginning of April, we went right into virtual learning with kids.<\/em><\/p>\n As online learning got underway, Ms. Reeves noted that some of her colleagues did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation and did not agree with the importance of distancing. This caused some tension in the school and put her in a position where she had to push back against practices that were not aligned with the scientific knowledge available at that time.<\/p>\n As we got into fall, and I realized it would be virtual, I had teachers and administrators that were insisting on in-person meetings. And I have some health concerns, so that I\u2019m like, \u201cI really don\u2019t feel comfortable doing in-person meetings.\u201d I called my principal, who had been my friend forever, and I said, \u201cYou know what? I\u2019m very concerned about this. There\u2019s absolutely no reason staff has to meet in person. This isn\u2019t like we\u2019re working with kids. Meeting with kids I think would have higher priority in person.\u201d And he went in a direction of being suspicious of all of this, \u201cIt\u2019s not that bad. It\u2019s just the flu.\u201d And then I\u2019m saying, \u201cI know about this.\u201d And at which point he told me to stop throwing my credentials at him. And I\u2019m like, \u201cThat\u2019s what I have to offer! That\u2019s why you hired me! Because I know some of this!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Despite the challenges of online learning, Ms. Reeves was fully committed to providing her students with the most comprehensive, up-to-date information about COVID that was available. She also used the pandemic as an opportunity to teach about the nature of science, particularly the tentativeness of scientific knowledge and its tendency to change as new information emerges.<\/p>\n I always talked about COVID, always. I am an AP Biology teacher. I teach them about viruses. I tell them that these are scary things. We don\u2019t know where this is going. I teach them science. I teach them that science changes as new data comes in. We\u2019re talking about, \u201cIs this going to work? Can you keep a virus out?\u201d I mean, we talked about all of this.<\/em><\/p>\n As the pandemic persisted into the following school year (2020\u201321), her school retained the online learning structure it had adopted the previous year. However, there was a lot of pressure from parents and others in the community to get students back into classrooms. Although her school board voted to keep remote learning in place until a vaccine was widely available, Ms. Reeves expressed frustration at the lack of concern shown for teachers at that time.<\/p>\n I think what really got me was I\u2019ve always felt this community has always really supported me. I have good relationships with my parents. They know my <\/em>background, and they trust me with their kids. But we had parents, about February it blew up, that were picketing board meetings wanting us to go back. And the vaccine hadn\u2019t come out yet. And like I said, I\u2019m not a young teacher. I had some reasons that I didn\u2019t feel comfortable going back. . . . And they were insisting that we come back. And I think that\u2019s the part that really took me down, to have these parents doing that. I\u2019ve given them so much, and my life wasn\u2019t worth a few more weeks of inconvenience?. . . But wow, that was brutal. That made me look at my value.<\/em><\/p>\n Her school eventually transitioned to a hybrid approach where students attended school in person on some days and continued with remote instruction on other days. Consistent with her previous instruction, Ms. Reeves expanded her focus on COVID to include emerging topics, including masking and vaccines.<\/p>\n The nature-of-science unit had a huge COVID section that had masks and all the things. We jumped into it right away. In fact, one of the things we did was we took different kinds of masks and were trying to blow out candles and see which ones kept the air. It was a nice little way to look at science, and very relevant at the time.<\/em><\/p>\n However, differing public opinions about the severity of the virus, necessity for precautionary measures, and efficacy of the vaccine increasingly made their way into Ms. Reeve\u2019s classroom. Although she aimed to simply provide scientifically accurate information about COVID, she explained that it was difficult to do so without getting caught up in the politics of the situation.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know why it was hard for me to stay away from politics. I don\u2019t teach politics. I don\u2019t do social studies, come on. But all of a sudden, my science became political. And I resented that. . . . I am not interested in what you think about it or what your opinion is about it. That\u2019s not what we\u2019re doing. Just because you don\u2019t like it doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t believe it. I mean, it\u2019s just that\u2019s the way it is. And so I became very, very frustrated with vaccines and things like that becoming political. That made me crazy. And I guess what bothered me the most is I studied science. I mean, I have two master\u2019s degrees and a doctorate. I\u2019ve studied science forever. And to have people not believe what I tell them was just kind of like, \u201cAre you kidding me, because you read something on Facebook? Are you kidding me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Ms. Reeves recalled multiple instances where she received direct pushback from parents and students as a result of her COVID instruction. However, her answer to this criticism was always to put science at the forefront and use it to defend her position.<\/p>\n I had one student who gave me some grief at first. He was telling me that vaccines were causing more disease than COVID, but I had all the data. And he brought his data in, and I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, this is a great opportunity for us. Remember how I tell you in science, we have to look at our sources? Okay, let\u2019s look at your sources.\u201d And we really picked it apart. And all of a sudden, I had a new convert. Because my children aren\u2019t stupid. They\u2019re really bright. And they know I\u2019m teaching them science, and they can figure this out for themselves. \u201cWhat\u2019s a good source? Who do you believe? Who do you not? Now we\u2019re learning.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Over time, the cumulative effects of the pandemic made science teaching progressively more difficult. In addition to logistical and political concerns, Ms. Reeves noted that many teachers struggled with the isolation that accompanied online and hybrid learning.<\/p>\n I think emotionally as teachers, that was really rough. Teaching is a funny profession, because I always tell people you have to have an ego. Because you can\u2019t get up in front of a class if you don\u2019t have an ego. Get serious! Who\u2019s going to stand in front of 30 16-year-olds? You\u2019ve got to believe in yourself. . . . You have to feel good about yourself. You have to feel confident. And you can do that better with other people. Sitting alone at a computer by yourself, it\u2019s hard to get to that place you have to be to teach well. So we were fighting – I don\u2019t know if you want to call that depression. I suppose that there was probably some of that playing out. Isolation is not good for teachers. It\u2019s kind of a team sport.<\/em><\/p>\n Although the 2021\u201322 school year brought back some measure of normalcy, the lingering effects of COVID remain. Specifically, Ms. Reeves reflected on how the pandemic once again positioned science teachers at the center of a larger social issue. She also expressed disappointment with the widespread lack of respect for teachers that accompanied this monumental event, despite teachers\u2019 incredible efforts to help their students succeed. Further, looking ahead, she expressed concern for the future of the science teaching profession.<\/p>\n We have gone from being the good guys, to the bad guys, to the whole end of the deal. . . . We\u2019ve got to be careful with teachers. Because I\u2019m coming to the end of my career, and I am very, very concerned that there isn\u2019t going to be anyone to replace me. Because we have made this profession so ugly, and I don\u2019t know why. We\u2019re right in the center of so many issues, COVID is just one of them. There are so many issues in this world, and teachers end up in the center, right? Politics is [raking] us over the coals. . . . And from both sides, everything comes down on top of teachers, and we\u2019re supposed to do the right thing. And no matter what we say, it\u2019s the wrong thing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n![\"Elementary\"](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/giovanni-gagliardi-fvT3t9iOaJI-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Elementary\\"")
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