a teacher shares her daily life in times of coronavirus

How do you manage your work as a teacher in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic? Barrier measures, stress of being contaminated but also, a strong bond with the students, a teacher testifies.

Monday, November 3, 2020, Caroline, a 37-year-old college teacher, made her post-reconfinement re-entry in a college in Seine-Saint-Denis. She recounts this special day, in a re-confined country and at the height of coronavirus contamination.

I came out flushed from my return to school. I teach history and geography at a college in Seine-Saint-Denis, and I and my colleagues led an hour of Moral and Civic Education, following the murder of Samuel Paty. We had prepared but despite that, the session was intense. It was necessary to answer the students' questions, to deconstruct certain ideas, to reassure. A day like in a boxing ring.
We have taught this teaching in the context of a pandemic. And there, I must say that I am simply jaded of National Education.

The new health instructions, I received them on Friday October 30 at 5:52 p.m., by email. A habit of the Ministry of sending us information at the last minute … This time, we were on vacation, without the possibility of coordinating with our administration. It creates anxiety. A colleague told me that she had only slept for three hours the day before the start of the school year and arrived at middle school thinking: "We are sacrificed, us teachers."

Inapplicable barrier measures

This idea crosses us, then it passes when we see the students again. We work for them. But we are not fooled: we know that what is expected of us, deep down, is to keep people's kids in a risk situation. We teach in overcrowded classes, sometimes in large structures (a thousand people in my establishment), with constraints that make barrier measures inapplicable. For example, students are supposed to stay in one classroom, to avoid mixing, and it's up to teachers to move around. But due to the lack of incompatible rooms and schedules, we had to give classes in stairwells. We stopped for the moment, unmanageable. In some bahuts, the deputy principal will tackle organizational problems head on. But this is not the case with us, as in many middle and high schools. So with the new standards …

In its Friday email, the ministry informed us that we had a week to apply them. Already, until then, what do we do? Well we do it. And from Monday, November 9? We are told that if we cannot separate the students at recess, we should keep them in class and supervise them for 15 minutes. Teenagers who do not get fresh air, must not move from their chair, not talk to each other nearby … It is impractical. And U.S ? You can continue up to 5 hours of lessons; every Friday, I work from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with only 30 minutes to eat. Won't we take a break?

Did I tell you about the masks we were given? They don't protect us from the virus.

You have to know that an hour of class is exhausting. I have worked in the private sector in senior management positions. At the time of my reorientation, I said to myself: "It's okay, it's cool to teach". I have discovered how exhausting it is to stand even for an hour in front of a class.

Being a teacher is a priesthood in itself. We know it. But there, he has the health risk in addition. Did I tell you about the masks we were given? They don't protect us from the virus. And those of the students? They are often of poor quality, are not washed, teens cannot keep them in place … Luckily, in my college, we can open the windows to ventilate. But it's a hassle, it's cold, the students are whipped by the curtains at the slightest draft … Still, it's an enviable situation compared to other staff members, who cannot ventilate their office. The establishment's social worker, for example. And due to professional secrecy, she can't even leave the door open … Other teachers work in modern buildings, built to drastic safety standards. There the windows only open a few inches. So they ventilate from the hallway, but internal air circulation is not a good solution.

Isolated teachers

We manage everything like that, doing what we can. We apply the rules as little as possible. Some colleagues are extremely distressed. They are a small minority, but they are not afraid: they are terrified. Since they know we would be in deep trouble without them, they work anyway. But that means living with the anguish pegged to the body. We know that we can catch the virus: since January, we have had sick students and colleagues, and if we had had to apply isolation for contact cases, we should simply have closed the establishment. Personally, I'm especially afraid to pass it on to my relatives. I have a toddler son and when I get home I'm supposed to continue wearing the mask. But who can keep this rule?

The truth is, we're always under pressure. We have a minister who despises us, a rectorate who hates us and school leaders who downplay. So how do you expect parents to respect us? I was hoping that would change, that we finally say: "The teachers are great", rather than "They don't give a damn". But we highlighted the few cases of schools where a teacher has disappeared into the wild. A mother of a student even yelled at me saying that we were "all lazy", whereas I had had him on the phone regularly to accompany him with his son. She was the one who let it go, and I am sure it fell.

No, no one is supporting us. In reality, as a teacher, you no longer expect anything.

The only benefit of this crisis is that I understand my role as a teacher better than ever. Yesterday, I felt that the kids were happy to come back. That it wasn't so bad to be in college, rather than stuck at home. The refractories were as if softened. It was a pleasure.
That’s what being a teacher is: a glimmer in the kid’s eyes, and you hold on for a month.