What Covid Taught Me As A Teacher

I remember very clearly waking up to a text message telling me not to panic, but the country was in lockdown. I am so grateful for true friendship because I needed to hear these words from someone I loved and trusted before turning on the news and being frightened by the statistics and the guidelines for our future as a country and world. When I look back now, I am actually really proud of the resilience I demonstrated during the 18 months that the world was upside down and radiating uncertainty and fear. I think that’s the first thing I learned during this time, that whilst it was nice to receive that text to warn me of the news, I would’ve been okay without it because the resilience I clearly have is there, just waiting to be called upon. I have a super active mind and have a tendency of spending a lot of time in the past and in the future – Covid pulled me to the present. I had no choice but to experience one step at a time because we were constantly waiting on hearing what the goalposts were being adjusted to; I had no choice but to be present because thinking about the future when I had no answers and fear was at an all time high was just too overwhelming. My body and mind took over, my resilience kicked in, and I, almost on autopilot, went into survival mode which meant keeping my brain present and not thinking too far ahead into the future. I am grateful for these lessons – they were stark reminders of how the only thing we have is now and so worrying about work, about marking, about planning, about meetings, about how my email was received, about how the children will behave, how my lesson will go is all futile. It was a reminder that it’s wasted energy. As part of my survival mode during Covid, it was almost like I only had so much energy and strength and so my body and mind, without my knowing, prioritised and said NO to drains that I simply didn’t have the reserves for, and that included worrying about work!

When I look back now, that first lockdown was the dream! I had my desk set up in my living room, I was scheduling one hour a day (usually mid-morning) to exercise and get some much needed fresh air, I was cooking healthy lunches, I had to the space to prioritise myself because I knew if I didn’t, I’d go under because of the pressures and doubts and fears I had about what was going on in the world. This is extreme, a survival instinct almost, but there’s no reason why the essence of this can’t be carried on in life after the pandemic. Self-care is more than having a bath and putting on a face mask – it’s about putting yourself first in the decisions you make, in the responses you give and the people you give your time and energy to. The essence of this lesson is you’re always home, you’re always loved and protected – BY YOU and this relationship you have with yourself is the most important one you have and so it must be nourished and cherished by yes giving yourself things you know bring you joy, but also making decisions that serve you. If it’s a choice between having a nice evening watching a film with my family on a Saturday night, or working flat out finishing a load of exam paper marking I need to do, I’m choosing my family and joy every time and not feeling guilty about that. It’s a balance that has taken me many years to establish, and it’s not without its consequences of sometimes having frantic Mondays, but I feel the effects of the pandemic forced me even more to lean into my joy in an attempt to survive and this is something that has made keeping that balance alive even more of a priority for me.

If you’d have told me 18 months ago that I would be organising and facilitating a full schedule of live lessons via MS TEAMS, communicating with and offering academic support to students online, supporting my entire team of 17 from a distance and setting, monitoring and marking online assessments using software I had never opened before I would have laughed in your face and potentially broken down to the floor with the sheer overwhelm the thought of all of these new skills being needed from me! The skill set I developed during the Covid disruption was one I didn’t think I would need but has gone on to be extremely useful. Our online presence as a school has been elevated to a place far beyond where it was before, and this massively supports our students and our community. We have completely reshaped how we set, monitor, and assess home learning and we have a huge bank of online resources and sessions that are available to support our students with day-to-day learning, home learning, absence, and revision. The lesson for me here is that no matter the circumstances, no matter how difficult things seem, there IS room to take things in – to learn. Being open to receive new information and new skills during difficult times can actually be uplifting and inspiring and so instead of shutting down and being resistant to change during a turbulent time, being open to it gave me some light as to be learning something new to make a difference became a fuel, a driving force for me to keep going. Covid has been incredibly disruptive, it has stripped away time from our school communities, stolen opportunities from us all and added a huge weight of fear and anxiety to society, BUT it’s also really useful to reflect on what lessons have been learnt and what positive takeaways there are because if you sink only into the darkness and stay there, it becomes increasingly difficult to find the light. It has been difficult but there has been so much growth too – I am choosing to focus on that and to be grateful for the experiences and lessons that have brought me to this space now, where I sit, writing this, reflecting on how much I have grown and how strong I can be in the face of adversity. That’s what really struck me about the teaching profession during this time, teachers as a collective are resilient beyond words, strong beyond comprehension and part of the heart of society – giving always to others, caring, sharing and offering compassion and joy during the good times and the bad. Thank you for your contribution – the world is a brighter place with you in it FOR SURE.