Dear Teachers,
Thank you for everything you do.
No. Really! Thank you!
We always knew that you went above and beyond for your students, but this year has taught us just how much you really do!
This school year has been an unprecedented one. COVID-19 took us by storm, and yet you held it all together and took care of your students on and offline (virtually). Who would have thought that students would leave school for March Break, only to not step foot in the building again for the rest of the year!
None of us have lived in a time of a pandemic like this one, and you managed to keep some structure in an otherwise crazy time.
You put together online activities and assignments, set up Google meets, and dedicated one-on-one time for students who needed some extra help.
I’m not going to lie. The last few months have been hard.
We kicked off at home schooling with a laptop that wasn’t working properly. That situation was remedied when the school let our daughter use her school Chromebook. Then our internet connectivity was spotty and our daughter couldn’t work online without getting booted off the internet a few times a day and sometimes for hours at a time. That situation was corrected after we got a technician to come and fix our internet problems.
As a parent working from home and whose workload got even busier because of the pandemic, it’s been a challenge helping our child with online schooling. I also learned over the course of the past few months that some students do really well with online schooling, while for others it’s a struggle. Our daughter struggled. I still don’t know what it was, but there was certainly a mix of issues with time management, completion of tasks, being distracted and forgetting to get back and finishing work, anxiety, being overwhelmed, and ultimately just missing the in-class experience.
For us, it’s been a rough (and often frustrating) journey. There have been many tears shed (not just from my kid)! We tried, and we can do better. I think at this point, our child is just emotionally exhausted.
Looking back on the months from March until June, I’ve seen how resilient and adaptable children can be. I have also seen how delicate their emotional state and mental state can be under stressful circumstances. The first few weeks of the pandemic and physical distancing, everything seemed fine. We used that time as a period of growth and learning, helping, and giving back. 
Our daughter taught herself how to make new dishes (like how to make homemade bubble tea) from watching cooking videos. She’s even attempted recipes that I have never tried.
After week 13 or so, things went downhill.
Through it all, you were there with your messages and emails. You reached out supported and encouraged our child. To be an educator in a regular classroom setting is one thing, and with the challenges of teaching virtually, you gave it your all.
For our daughter, loneliness has been the most difficult thing to overcome. Even with FaceTime and video chats with friends, cousins, and other family members, it still isn’t the same as face to face, in person connections. I think being an only child who is very social has made physical distancing even harder on our daughter.
Our eleven year old daughter told us, “I miss school. I want school. I NEED school.”
She truly misses school, being with her classmates and friends, and she misses her teachers.
If anything, that’s a testament to you and all the work you do for your students to make school a learning environment they thrive in.
I know that technology is here to stay, and it is good to learn to embrace the online schooling experience and find ways for our kids to really get as much out of learning this way as possible. For my child though, nothing beats the in-person learning experience and being in class with her teacher.
We value you and all the hard work, the countless hours you pour into your lessons, and the love and commitment you have for all your students.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Enjoy your summer break! You really do deserve it, especially after this crazy school year!
Respectfully,
Just A Mom Who Really Appeciates You
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