Brought to you by Jake Savill
With schools currently being closed to most students and staff, we find ourselves adapting to a life of working from home on a daily basis. I’m sure most of my fellow teachers are already used to completing a large amount of work from home after years of practice but this is certainly something very different. No need to rush to beat the Boughton Green Road traffic in the morning, in fact no real rush to do anything. A massive contrast to everyday life in a modern secondary school.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who found the idea of working from home somewhat appealing when it was first proposed; although of course we would all much prefer if it was under contrasting circumstances. The chance to complete your daily tasks in your living room armed with just your laptop, wearing whichever comfies you fancy and having constant access to the food in the kitchen (I’ve certainly taken advantage of the latter…)
Now I’d certainly be lying if I said the first couple of days were not enjoyable and particularly peaceful. I set a slightly later alarm for the morning and my daily run was a few miles longer to make the most of my daily allowance of one session of exercise; my two huskies were very pleased about this! I didn’t have to start my day by questioning my tutees about any behaviour points they may have received the previous day or quizzing anyone about why they were late. There was no need to rush my breakfast (the first one or the second) and I was feeling fresh and ready to get started on the tasks on my list. After logging into the school system and addressing the numerous emails from students the work could begin. My productivity levels were through the roof, I was typing away, creating resources, inputting data and finally getting the feeling that I have enough time to complete the work I need to; it was very unusual. The next couple of days followed a similar pattern and there have certainly been numerous benefits to this new way of life, particularly the amount of work that can be completed when you are completely uninterrupted and fully focused. A week later however, it’s clear that this kind of daily routine is certainly not why any of us got into teaching.
Our department is now as well-resourced as I can remember; we’ve had the opportunity to refine systems and finally got around to completing those tasks that we’ve wanted to for months but have never had the opportunity to. I’m sure everyone has more energy and is not feeling quite as exhausted as everyday teaching can often leave us. I do believe however, that this period away has reminded us of the thrill that draws us back to school every day. The daily interaction we get with our students, those lightbulb moments that we see when a new concept is fully understood after a period of struggle and often many mistakes. The unpredictable and often amusing comments and questions that our imaginative students come out with and the humour and energy that the young people bring with them every day. Even those times when you think you’ve given yourself ten minutes to eat your lunch after setting up for the next lesson only to be visited by a student who needs some help with their homework or is having issues with a friend and has come to you for some counselling. While these things do take up a large amount of our time and energy, none of us ever think twice about prioritising the needs of our students. There’s no point developing the best resources in the world if you don’t have the opportunity to share them with enthusiastic students on a day-to-day basis.
These are very challenging times for everyone but there are also lots of opportunities with this unusual way of working. Teachers and students alike should finally get the chance to catch up and even get ahead on much of the work that may have been mounting up. Many of us may even have some extra free time, and this can certainly be utilised to do something that you may normally say you don’t have time for. You can learn almost anything in the modern world with just a quick internet search so take some time to learn or practice something new. Spend an hour or so on a video chat to that friend who you keep meaning to contact. Spend some quality time with your family, maybe even play some games or do a home workout together and improve your fitness levels.
What this very uncertain time will hopefully do for many of us is allow us to reflect on what is important in our lives and why we love teaching. Although we do sometimes feel the urge to complain about certain classes or student behaviour, the daily interaction and unpredictability is what makes this job different to anything else. So, enjoy the extra free time you may have, the more relaxed and peaceful days, and the opportunity to broaden your daily activities and when this is all over, we can start again with renewed enthusiasm and gratitude for the job we’re very lucky to have!
Kingsthorpe College 