Being a teacher during quarantine

I am a teacher, and I am proud of it.

This quarantine hasn't change anything in my pride.

But, life hasn't been smooth ever since quarantine started.

We used to have a proper line between our school works and our house work, and we maintained it strictly. But, after quarantine that line that separated the two section of works vanished. We had to get up for house work at 11am, even though it is our work time, and we have to work somedays till 9pm, even though our working hour ends at 4:30pm.

As a teacher, we were very comfortable putting on a high bun on our heads, and take up this decent light make-up look, but after quarantine, we had to look presentable to the screen, since the classes are recorded.

We should look presentable in the mornings for the camera, we should make sure the internet connection is strong, we should check on our gadgets to make sure they work right; we should take the blame even if our internet connection doesn't work properly; we should be available for all the meetings so that we don't miss out everything;

Earlier, our classes with the children were easy, because we can approach them and and their notebooks to see what they have understood. But now, we still have to leave the zoom classroom without being sure if the students have actually understood our topic.

Before quarantine, we had the option of correcting everybody's notebooks, and that gave us a clarity on what is wrong with the class, but now, with online classes happening, we can't even understand what is right with our classes.

Corrections with red pens were something we were comfortable with, and now adapting to online corrections have become mandate. Else, how would the child know what is wrong with his/her work.

Being teachers who would want our students to be highly active during our class, we always encourage our students to answer my questions, and also talk to us in the middle of the class, but these days, we push my students to mute themselves, because we don't want the focus to shift.

"Be quiet," turned to "Mute yourself"

"Sit straight" turned to "Look at the camera"

"Do no chat" turned to "Answer me in the chat box"

40 minutes class turned to a 20 minute session.

After the kick-start of quarantine, the life of a teacher changed a lot. Earlier, we were concerned if the concept was clear to the students, but now, we are equally concerned if the concept was clear to the parents, because you see, we have some of the parents sitting along with their children as students.

We should look at the screen even if we are sharing our screen; we should look out the chat box to see if there any comments from the students; we should look for the voice and find the person from 20 boxes to figure out where the voice came from; we should also make sure nobody is waiting to enter the room, even when we are teaching class. Some times, we should stay steady even though things juggle around our heads.

The ones who were shy to even pose for a picture are now pushed to record video sessions of the class, and we can't regret it because we are doing for the children, who we adore the most.

We focus greatly on not making mistakes, not because our sessions are recorded, but because we are transferring knowledge to children, who grasp everything.

The ones who once didn't know how to send messages through whatsapp, are now learning how to record sessions in zoom and how to share screen in Google meet, because we want the children to keep in touch with education.

We know our work is doubled; we know we are being recorded and noticed; we know that this is giving us a headache; we know that deep down in our hearts, we are looking forward to the days when we can actually come back to class and see our students walking and talking front of us - not as boxes on a screen.

But, we are teachers, and we still are proud of who we are.