I was working in the education industry from May 2005 to May 2020. That's 15 years.
The bulk of that time was as a substitute teacher (May 2005 to December 2018) for public, private, and charter schools. Within that time frame, I did some gigs as a summer program employee (2005 & 2006) and as a para-professional tutor working with students in Special Education programs. From January 2019 to May 2020, I was a Library Assistant at Kalākaua Middle School.
2020 was the pandemic year. Schools were closed, then re-opened on a limited basis.
I did consider reapplying to be a sub teacher in Fall 2020. But classes were mostly online, and the subs I knew said there wasn't much for them available.
At the end of that school year, I wrote the following blog post titled "1st school year that I wasn't working in a school since 2005"
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2021/05/1st-school-year-that-i-wasnt-working-in.html
At the start of the 2021-2022 school year, schools were still open only on a limited basis. I didn't bother to reapply.
In the meantime, I was applying for mostly library or other clerical work within that time-frame.
The 2022-2023 school year, the schools were open for full-time instruction. The mask-mandate was also ended. It was back to "normal", or at least close to the old normal.
I was considering a return to substitute teaching but didn't apply until after the school year started.
I had questions like
- am I putting myself at risk working where physical distancing isn't always possible, and people weren't required to mask?
- How am I going to adjust to the new way of doing things since I've been out of the education industry for 2 years?
- Because I was out of the education industry for 2 years, am I out of touch with the kids today?
- Should I just do this on a part-time basis and continue my job with Macy's?
- what if the other jobs I've applied for (ie library, other clerical) hire me while in the process of returning to sub teaching
- should I also continue to find other jobs, just in case?
- should I work with public schools, private schools or both?
Also within that time frame, the Department of Health (DOH) finally told me that they were hiring me for an office position that I applied MONTHS earlier.
So in December, I left Kama‘aina Kids and started a temp office job with DOH. But I ended up leaving the DOH temp job in January.
Learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2023/02/when-working-at-department-of-health-is.html
So January, I was back with Kelly Services. I also reapplied with another private sub-agency Hi-Employment. I had a short history with Hi-Employment, for whom I worked with in late 2018. I had a longer history with Kelly Services. (2012-2018). I left both at the end of 2018, to take the library job with Kalākaua Middle School.
By February, I was working with both Kelly Services and Hi-Employment. Kelly Services works with private & charter K-12 schools. Hi-Employment does that plus the private preschools as well as some Head Start sites.
Though the bulk of my career is with the public schools, I haven't worked with them this year. The problem is that the DOE (like other state agencies) takes too long with job applications (the private agencies do background checks much faster) and even worse, take longer to pay employees. With the private agencies, I get paid next week Friday. With the DOE (or any state agency), I have to wait until the following month for my paycheck. I'd rather not wait.
If the Hawaii state government decides to start paying employees the following Friday, I'll reapply with the DOE ASAP! But sadly, the state government is FILLED with people who just don't want to change anything. Meanwhile, they're losing out on people like me who would love to contribute but can't be waiting an eternity for their paycheck.
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In the past, I mostly worked with elementary but also worked with preschoolers and middle schoolers. I rarely worked with high schoolers.
This time, I focus on working with elementary and preschool. For this school-year, the only time I worked with middle schoolers if it's on a K-8 campus (which some private & charter schools are), and the person I'm subbing for work with the entire student body. For example, at a K-8 charter school, I subbed for an art teacher and yard supervisor that deals with all age levels on the campus.
Nothing personal against the older kids, I just work better with the younger ones.
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So how are the kids these days?
Is it true that their academics and mental health have been adversely affected by the covid shutdown, even years later?
As a sub, I don't have access to student records so I can't really tell you much. I don't know for sure if the students I worked with are academically behind compared to those who were the same age back in 2019. I don't have access to mental health data to see how adversely affected they are.
But what I observed from the students themselves isn't that much different from the past, just that this time around, they're more aware about public health. They're already accustomed to the new normal.
I don't believe in this garbage that "masks are bad for the kids".
Some private schools (including preschools) still require masks, and most of the students don't feel oppressed by the masks. The tiny minority that does "feel oppressed by masks" tend to be the same exact ones who feel "all rules are oppressive!"
In other words, even most preschoolers are more adult than the allegedly "adult" covidiot nutcases throw hissy fits over mask mandates!
The preschoolers can still interact as normal even with the mask on. It's just another day for them. They only take it off for mealtime and naptime.
In other words, to them, masks are as normal as wearing shoes, pants, and shirts.
People in Asian countries have been wearing surgical masks for decades. This is definitely true for East Asian countries that have better academic statistics than the USA! So I don't believe this garbage that claims that masks hinder academic achievement. And there's no evidence that masks have hindered Asian human development in any way shape or form.
Plus, Hawaii has a large Asian population, so we were already accustomed to masks BEFORE the pandemic. It's usually people from the continental US who tend to throw hissy fits over masks. They're mad over what was already normal for us before 2020.
As for the effect of the shutdown on student behavior today, I just don't see it. The students still act the same way as those who were their age back in 2018.
I don't know if the covid lockdown affected the private thoughts of the students. But then again, as a sub, I don't even know much of the private thoughts of the students even in the pre-pandemic era. My job isn't to deal with their private thoughts, my job is to deal with the observable behavior, which really isn't that much different from the pre-pandemic era.
As for me wearing a mask and face shield, I don't think it affects my job performance that much. I already had speech impediments from childhood, I already was told that I "talk too fast" or "mumble too much" in the pre-pandemic era, and if the student ask me to repeat the instructions, I repeat the instructions as clearly as possible.
When talking with little children, I remind myself to bend down to their level so that I can hear them and they can hear me. I was given this reminder LONG BEFORE the coronavirus crisis, and I remind myself to do so in the era of the face-mask.
As for the nonsense of "teachers shouldn't wear masks because kids need to see facial expressions", earlier this year while supervising the playground, a 2nd grader told me "I know you're smiling" when I was wearing a mask. Even he knows that eyebrow movements can indicate happiness or sadness. Even he knew that tone of voice can indicate happiness or sadness.
Plus, with my face shield, I can temporarily lower down my mask while still protected from the germs coming from the student's mouth.
So I'm going to continue with my face mask and face shield if I come back to working at a school next year.
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PS: If I have any additional insights to add, I'll add more to this post.
