Wish I wasn't a teacher because of Covid

[NebularNerd]

In my family/friends circle, I am the only one who will be face to face with 150+ people per day with no PPE, no social distancing, nothing.

I have one relative who is not expecting to return to the office this year.
Another who now only works in the office two days per week, in a building where numbers are severely restricted, one way systems, spaced out desks etc.
Another friend who is also able to wfh for the foreseeable future.

I can't help but think that had I made a different career choice I would not now be faced with contracting a potentially life threatening virus and passing it on to my clinically extremely vulnerable husband or elderly parents.

I will go to work and try to ignore what's going on in the world and do my best. But I wish I could be made to feel safer - screens, masks, fewer pupils, something.

I hope I'm worrying for nothing, but it is getting difficult to sleep at night.

@Flaxmeadow

So the implication that teachers are going back to work to be useful to society again is a kick in the teeth

This is a bad thing? Why
What on earth is wrong with being useful to society?

It's not the useful part I have a problem with, as I would have thought would be obvious.

It's the implication that I haven't been working through the use of the words "back to work". And that having a holiday now means I haven't been useful to society during the past six weeks, despite working for about half of it.

Flaxmeadow

But some teachers are saying they won't go back

Where are they saying this?

Look at France and how the numbers are now increasing exponentially. They were us a month ago.

Most supermarkets have some sort of ventilation @Flaxmeadow.

No they do not.

As a supermarket worker do you stand within 2m next to the same people for at least an hour?Do any of your customers lick you? (mainly talking Primary here!)

You'd be surprised at what supermarket staff have to deal with. Try tackling a shoplifter/drug addict, not known for keeping good personal hygiene, who is spitting on you and trying to bite you

@MilesJuppIsMyBitch bring cake. And coffee. We all know how many coffee breaks teachers get. 😂

Can anyone remember the 5 stipulations for going back to school.

I am sure that two of them were

R below 1.
and a working track and trace system.

What is this obsession with supermarket workers??

@Flaxmeadow

Most supermarkets have some sort of ventilation @Flaxmeadow.

No they do not.

As a supermarket worker do you stand within 2m next to the same people for at least an hour?Do any of your customers lick you? (mainly talking Primary here!)

You'd be surprised at what supermarket staff have to deal with. Try tackling a shoplifter/drug addict, not known for keeping good personal hygiene, who is spitting on you and trying to bite you

When I worked in retail, we were specifically told not to tackle shoplifters or anyone acting aggressively, but to call the police.

An infection rate consistently below 1000 cases a day.

Flaxmeadow

You'd be surprised at what supermarket staff have to deal with. Try tackling a shoplifter/drug addict, not known for keeping good personal hygiene, who is spitting on you and trying to bite you

I wonder if you know what goes on in some schools?

It's the implication that I haven't been working through the use of the words "back to work". And that having a holiday now means I haven't been useful to society during the past six weeks, despite working for about half of it.

But from some parents experience, they haven't done much work
Our primary schools sent out one "education pack" back in April and that was it. This is all my grandchildren have had!

@Flaxmeadow my DDchas worked in a supermarket through lockdown and has had a mask, Perspex screen (except on SCO) and limited people in store. I'd be v happy with those precautions.
If you are tackling shop lifters you need better security guards and if complain if I was you. I thought staff were told not to physically confront anyone?

I can't remember the last time I have been in a supermarket without air conditioning. Smaller shops maybe not, but then they are limiting the number of people who go into the shop at a time, and will have doors open.

@Flaxmeadow

It's the implication that I haven't been working through the use of the words "back to work". And that having a holiday now means I haven't been useful to society during the past six weeks, despite working for about half of it.

But from some parents experience, they haven't done much work
Our primary schools sent out one "education pack" back in April and that was it. This is all my grandchildren have had!

Like I said, I can't really comment on other schools/counties, but all I will say is, the role of a teacher is more than the actual teaching part. They may well have still been working, just in ways you don't see. There is a lot of paperwork that goes with the job.

Sorry for typos. Currently trying to do seating plans and realising I have a class of 33 in a room with 28 chairs. No outside door and windows only high up (it's upstairs and we don't want them jumping out). Poor year 7s will be in there for every lesson. It's going to be v hot and v smelly.

@mumsneedwine

I'm not a teacher but could I please have cake & coffee too?!

@Shitfuckoh always plenty to go round. ☕️ 🍰

@ineedaholidaynow

I can't remember the last time I have been in a supermarket without air conditioning. Smaller shops maybe not, but then they are limiting the number of people who go into the shop at a time, and will have doors open.

Plus, can we add that supermarkets tend to have very high ceilings. Practically cavernous in feel.

My little classroom is about 12m square and I can touch the ceiling by standing on a chair (and I'm only a little over 5').

@KatherineOfGaunt most of ours have low ceilings. Useful for getting the pritt sticks down.

I've said before and I'll say again, our two schools did diddly squat. I'd love to know what paper work took up normal working hours since March?

Our learning pack.. Consisted of a maths book and an empty excersie book. The maths book was too advanced for my dd.

And a list of websites. I wasn't even afforded the privilege of being given any feedback at all on my dds intervention groups.

And yet I was in a setting working everyday, as normal on line.

My other dd couldn't even get hold of her teachers on line! They took ages to respond to emails, loads of dc confused by various things, no support... Lots of umming and arghing about the teacher actually speaking to them all about or recording something to show them.
We are in a digital age. We are on line. How did some... Schools get left behind??

What is this obsession with supermarket workers??

Why not talk about them in comparison? It's a better comparison to the poster comparing teachers to covid ward doctors and nurses

I got a feeling of actually helping and contributing to the effort and fight against covid whe I was working in retail at the height of the pandemic. I felt good to be a part of it. That I was contributing to something. OK I wasn't working in a hospital and taking those big risks but I felt a camaraderie with my colleagues and that I was doing my bit by helping others and by especially helping and talking to some of the elderly customers who were nervous and scared. I will probably get sneered at for saying that and I know it might sound cheesy but it kept me going.

I'm not saying teachers don't want to muck in, I'm sure many do and will do a great job of it, I'm trying to put across that it isn't all doom and gloom out there and especially now the infection rates much lower.

[quote mumsneedwine]@KatherineOfGaunt most of ours have low ceilings. Useful for getting the pritt sticks down. [/quote]

I remember being in Year 10 and one of the boys had a game in a science lesson of when the teacher's back was turned, to climb on the bench and sellotape a different item of stationery to the ceiling. Ah, good times!

@mumsneedwine
Thank you

Plus, can we add that supermarkets tend to have very high ceilings. Practically cavernous in feel.

But there are thousands of people using this big supermarkets

My little classroom is about 12m square and I can touch the ceiling by standing on a chair (and I'm only a little over 5').

There are also many small metro type supermarkets. These are very small and the aisles especially

@Spiderseason

I've said before and I'll say again, our two schools did diddly squat. I'd love to know what paper work took up normal working hours since March?

Our learning pack.. Consisted of a maths book and an empty excersie book. The maths book was too advanced for my dd.

And a list of websites. I wasn't even afforded the privilege of being given any feedback at all on my dds intervention groups.

And yet I was in a setting working everyday, as normal on line.

My other dd couldn't even get hold of her teachers on line! They took ages to respond to emails, loads of dc confused by various things, no support... Lots of umming and arghing about the teacher actually speaking to them all about or recording something to show them.
We are in a digital age. We are on line. How did some... Schools get left behind??

I'm not saying that paperwork is an excuse for not delivering work. I have no idea why some SLTs/Governors/MATs decided to do nothing during closure. And it's not okay. I'm just pointing out that the teachers probably were doing some other work. Just perhaps not the ideal work.