This excessive workload continued into the 2020\u201321 school year, and Ms. Wright began to feel the weight of what she described as \u201cconcierge teaching.\u201d She explained that she and other teachers at her school regularly sacrificed their own personal time and mental health to meet student needs. For example, all teachers in her school were loading daily instructional materials onto carts and taking instruction to the students instead of having students move about the school, a logistical strategy for reducing COVID spread. Additionally, teachers were regularly preparing make-up or work-ahead assignments for students who were absent due to illness, family commitments, or family vacations.<\/p>\n
As travel became more available, many of our families were making up for lost time and taking vacations they canceled or put on hold. So there was probably never a week all year, and I have 150 students that I see daily, that a family wasn\u2019t going to be gone for two, three days a week. And they were asking for assignments ahead of time, asking for assignments afterwards. So we still were providing concierge teaching, on demand, depending on what they needed.<\/em><\/p>\n Constantly changing school sanitation guidelines, based on evolving knowledge of the virus, also impacted Ms. Wright\u2019s science instruction. She noted that maintaining safety guidelines meant making daily changes to planned instruction, sometimes at a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n We would get new directives as to, \u201cOkay, you can do this, but now this has to be reported, or eased up or we didn\u2019t have to report it.\u201d But then around the holidays, it would spike again, and we\u2019d have to go back and refollow the guidelines. So it was keeping track of which guidelines were in place so that lessons could be planned. I try and plan out lessons for a unit at a time, but usually they would be adjusted daily because of guideline concerns.<\/em><\/p>\n Because of her desire to provide students with high-quality science instruction, Ms. Wright struggled to take time away from teaching during the pandemic. Even after the school day ended, she felt the need to constantly be working, whether it was planning for the next day or researching a new topic that she thought her students might find interesting.<\/p>\n I\u2019d always be going back to my computer. I was tethered every waking minute of every day. . . . There was always something else I could be doing. I never felt like I did it all. So I was always feeling like, \u201cOkay, if I just spend a little more time, I could research geology and try to find a way to make it interesting for the students who are sitting in front of a computer.\u201d Because offering them a video isn\u2019t very worthwhile. They can\u2019t have a hands-on experience. What can we do to make this engaging or make a STEM experience out of it and get them involved?<\/em><\/p>\n The 2021\u201322 school year finally brought some relief as all students returned to the school building in person and full-time. Ms. Wright\u2019s workload generally returned to what it had
\nbeen in school years prior, and she expressed relief about being able return to a pre-pandemic classroom atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n![\"Elementary\"](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/giovanni-gagliardi-fvT3t9iOaJI-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Elementary\\"")
\t <\/a>\n\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n \n \t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t Elementary\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t \n\t \t<\/div>\n\t\n \t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Middle\"](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/getty-images-I-451dMhv5U-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Middle\\"")
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![\"High](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/linkedin-sales-solutions-NpyF7rjqmq4-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"High")
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