I'm a teacher and I'm scared.

[NebularNerd]

I don't feel safe going back to work in September. When I became a teacher I did not anticipate doing so during a pandemic. I, like many others in secondary schools, will be facing up to 150 students a day, indoors, with no protection.
I am over 40 but not otherwise in a high risk category, although my husband is and we have elderly parents who will be exposed if I'm infected, as well as young children who will also be in school and potentially exposed.
I'm not disputing the need for children to return to school at all. I'm just starting to fear returning.
Anyone else feel this way?

@commentatorz 😂😂oh you are funny. Teaching is very different to doing it yourself. Try explaining how to add 2 + 5 to a student who just doesn't get it. Go on, tell me what you would do. Because I have a year 9 like this and it's not his fault and I have tried most things I know.

The thing that would put me off teaching the most if the situation required it would be the extreme left-wing politics of the teaching profession itself. I've had a couple of friends who used to be teachers, who were effectively driven out by the "union says no, no Tories allowed" attitude of their peers.

That's the aspect that would concern me the most.

@MarshaBradyo never move schools. You'll never get that class size again !

I don't find commentatorz funny.

@mumsneedwine thanks I try to be funny!

If a year 9 doesn't know 2+5, I'd suggest there is no point in continuing to try to teach them Maths as they cannot do nursery-level sums. Hope that helps.

This around testing said today annoys me:

“Anybody that shows symptoms in schools, teachers and pupils, will be tested,” Gibb told Times Radio. “Not routine testing without symptoms. The advice that we have is that it’s better to test when people actually show symptoms.”

The problem being of course that teens are very likely to be asymptomatic. I think the end of the final sentence should finish 'as we unfortunately still have an inadequate testing system'.

@THisbackwithavengeance

If you are too scared to do your job, you should resign.

I'm a keyworker and do public facing work (law enforcement).

I dont think the taxpayer should have to pick up the slack for teachers and other public servants who are "too scared" to work and presumably want to stay at home on full pay.

Police, prison officers, Border Force staff, all NHS workers, shop and food chain workers are people too and don't want to catch the virus either. However if everyone stayed at home like the majority of teachers have done since March, there would be societal breakdown, anarchy and lawlessness.

Funny how all those too scared to work are quite happy for other people to go out and work so they can stay at home.

All those workers that you mention? They wear PPE. Their clients / customers / service users have to wear PPE. They have Covid measures in place - distancing, hand washing, limited numbers of people in certain spaces, etc.

Teachers and other school staff? Nope. No PPE (haven’t you seen the dozens of threads on here where parents say that they won’t send their kids back to school if they or the teachers have to wear masks?). No distancing. No hand washing facilities or funding for extra sanitizer etc. Ancient buildings with windows that won’t open properly. And TEENAGERS. Those risk-averse bastions of selflessness, practicality and helpfulness.

@commentatorz utter DM rubbish. No one cares. I work with all sorts of all political opinions and it makes for a nice diverse place. Only the press make out all teachers are left wing bigots. I can't stand Corbin if that's any help. Although I currently hate Boris more.

@katy1213

I'd wear a mask - if they don't like it, what are they going to do? sack you?

I think visors are the sensible option for teachers - I work in care, have worked through a massive outbreak - visors provide excellent protection and shouldn’t inhibit teachers ability to teach - older students might take the p*ss initially but I’m sure they’d quickly adjust.

I’m finding it interesting that there are parents who seem quite happy that they will be sending their children into an unsafe environment. Why aren’t you demanding money for extra sinks and cleaners?
It’s not just teachers who will be at risk. I’m quite fond of the children I teach and I’d like to keep them safe too.

If I lost my job I would become a teacher if the situation required it, yes. I got an 'A' A level in maths, further maths and chemistry. They were easy, although I wouldn't feel confident with the practical side of Chemistry. But could easily teach secondary and sixth form maths (with a quick cursory glance over the current curriculum) why not?

I wish teaching was simply teaching the curriculum. I wanted to be a teacher for a long tome before I trained and was worried I wouldn’t be clever enough - I can look back now and laugh at how naive I was.
Until I realised ‘teaching’ is only part of being a teacher. That is why they say it is a job you don’t go into lightly and one you must genuinely want to do.

My PGCE started with 28 trainees, at the end we were down to 10 and 4 of us stayed longer than one year in our teaching jobs. We were all more than clever enough to do it.

Oi fuck you miss.
You cannot do anything to me
Get the fuck away from me you cunt
Whats you're problem love, didn't get fucked last night, someone then might even pipe up. with - mate who would want to fuck that.
Then there's the threats of violence, and if you're really lucky you get spit on.

@commentatorz How would you deal with this whilst trying to educate the rest of the classroom? Where if you're really lucky as well as the above you will also have at least one tapper/whistler. Class size is 30

@commentatorz just said this. To all my teacher friends i hope this gives you a laugh too. Please please do not ever go near a school. Students with SEN deserve an education too you know.
*
thanks I try to be funny!

If a year 9 doesn't know 2+5, I'd suggest there is no point in continuing to try to teach them Maths as they cannot do nursery-level sums. Hope that helps.*

The thing that would put me off teaching the most if the situation required it would be the extreme left-wing politics of the teaching profession itself. I've had a couple of friends who used to be teachers, who were effectively driven out by the "union says no, no Tories allowed" attitude of their peers.

Utter nonsense.

Or, if you prefer, let’s just say your friends’ experience was not typical.

@Playdoughbum

I’m finding it interesting that there are parents who seem quite happy that they will be sending their children into an unsafe environment. Why aren’t you demanding money for extra sinks and cleaners? It’s not just teachers who will be at risk. I’m quite fond of the children I teach and I’d like to keep them safe too.

And I'm quite keen on my own lung health too, I don't want the virus dragged back here!

Nope I'm not going to pubs restaurants beaches or on holiday. Just to my office and weekly food shop. All so there is a chance of kids going back in four weeks.

@mumsneedwine no if someone doesn't know 2+5 if their mid teens they shouldn't be in mainstream education. It's not fair for them or the other children.

If a year 9 doesn't know 2+5, I'd suggest there is no point in continuing to try to teach them Maths as they cannot do nursery-level sums. Hope that helps.

You are definitely not cut out to be a teacher!

You cannot refuse to teach someone on the basis that they are a lower ability than some others.

I get that this is the school holidays and you’re probably a bored 12 year old but you are just making yourself look more and more stupid.

I'm thinking we might have one of Them on here. Doesn't matter how hard we try to ensure schools are safe and so will remain open we are wrong. Should just suck it up like everyone else (who has PPE or is working from home).

All teachers at my academic chain received letters from my union. They were concerned that no-one (say that again, NO-ONE) from my school had had any contact with the union whatsoever over the past year. They felt this could either be a very good thing, or a very bad thing.

Many teachers are very young. Young teachers are cheap. They tend not to be very political. They say yes.

We do not rock the boat. People who rock the boat fall out of it. Lives become hard. We tow the line, we comply as much as possible to make our lives as easy as possible, because we know that it's very east to make out lives very hard - weekly book monitoring, observations on our worst classes when we have to travel the length of the school to get to them.

If SLT want us gone, we will vanish. Do not overestimate the power of the union.

All those workers that you mention? They wear PPE. Their clients / customers / service users have to wear PPE. They have Covid measures in place - distancing, hand washing, limited numbers of people in certain spaces, etc.

What planet are you on? Do you really think that the country kept turning and we all managed to keep it going in full PPE? You are having a fucking laugh.

I try with teachers, I really do, but you are utterly clueless if you think everyone else has been ‘Covid secure’ throughout this thing. Absolute blind ignorance.

@commentatorz somewhere should they go ? This student will probably get 9s in English and Spanish but you've written him off because he has dyscalculia. Nice work.

So where should they go ?

[quote Sarahbeans]And this is the original study:

wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-1315_article[/quote]
It’s an inconclusive study, tbh, with loads of unavoidable confounders. Also, there are ethnic variations that come into play so I’m not sure how much weight I’d give it - interesting, though.

@mumsneedwine um you said they had SEN minute ago, now they just have a problem adding up. Make up your mind, because this child is starting to look like a figment of your imagination.

Which is it?