I have been teaching virtually for 5 weeks now, and I get asked how teaching is going pretty frequently. It’s good. My kids respect me and seem to like me.

But to be honest, my students are 7th graders. It’s their first year in a middle school, and it’s probably their first time being virtual but live. As a result, it’s still a learning process.

I want to do something a little different today. Rather than tell you all the stories, I want to share with you a firsthand glimpse into my thoughts during the day while I’m teaching. I’m going to use my busier day so that way you get all of the classes rather than just a block of time where I’m in prep planning for the next week or lesson. Here’s The Teacher’s Thoughts:

• Clocked in and ready for morning meeting (aka getting work done at the same time)
• Alright we are ready to go for the lesson today. Tabs are open, video is queued, and I am ready.
• Now that the meeting is done, it’s time for my one bathroom break during the day.
• 8:55: start up my first class Teams
• 8:58: is anyone coming to class today?
• 9:01: oh good, there are 2 people in class besides me
• 9:04: ah, here they all come
• 9:07: okay now that we have 6 people we can go ahead and get started. Make sure the objective is in the chat!
• 9:08: share the screen, hit the system audio button so they can see and hear the video (please work please work please work)
• 9:25: OH NO! I forgot to press record! Well it’s too late now, I’m already halfway through my notes.
• 9:40: okay there are no questions. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad one
• 10:00: Set them working so I can get some stuff done too. How are we still in the first class???
• 10:02: *in the chat someone asks to use the bathroom* You are in your own house!! I don’t care what you do! I can’t stop you!!!! *Types yes*
• 10:14: There’s the first yawn of the day
• 10:20: Done with class 1. On to class 2
• 10:28: who’s missing? There’s only 8 students in here. Why did they give me a class of only 9 boys anyway?
• 10:31: HIT RECORD BEFORE YOU START TEACHING!!!!!
• 10:33: okay good. We’re recording.
• 10:35: Oh no. Someone’s in my classroom observing. Alright don’t panic. You’re a competent teacher. Your objective is in the chat and you’re recording. Slow down a little and explain as much as possible.
• 10:49: they left. I can breathe again.
• 10:52: None of them have their cameras on and none of them are responding. Everything is fine.
• 11:00: how do we still have 45 minutes?
• 11:03: I’m hungry. Why is lunch so far away????
• 11:06: I’m not sure if they keep leaving class or if they’re actually getting kicked out as they claim
• 11:10: I’m grateful for the one A student in this class.
• 11:30: It needs to be lunch time. Why do I still have to teach another class.
• 11:45: Yay halfway through the content classes of the day!
• 12:10: Man! I forgot to press record again. Oh well I guess
• 12:12: Yes, go use the bathroom. I DON’T CARE!
• 12:13: We are taking notes. The same thing we do pretty much every day. We’ve been in school for 5 weeks. When you see the PowerPoint up, that means you should be writing stuff in red down! It’s not that hard.
• 12:20: if I hear that Teams sound one more time, I’m going to lose my mind.
• 12:24: Wow my butt hurts. I’ve been sitting way too long
• 12:31: *I ask if there are any questions* *a student raises their hand and asks what we are doing* well if maybe you had listened and paid attention!!!! *Deep breath* calm down
• 12:42: maybe it’s a good thing that I’m recording. That way when the parent asks me why the student is failing, then I can show them the videos…
• 12:50: oh good. Only 5 students have even opened the assignment.
• 12:51: FOOD!!!!! Why is lunch still 20 minutes away????
• 12:53: Why are you just now asking what we’re doing???? Where were you 20 minutes ago????
• 1:00: Okay, ten more minutes of work time. I can do this.
• 1:07: I’m telling them to leave so I can go get lunch.
• 1:10: *not all students have hung up* time to kick them out! *Press the remove meeting button for each student still in the class*
• 1:12: LUNCH!!!!
• 1:16: am I going to be eating lunch by myself today?
• 1:24: finally another staff!
• 1:40: Advisory and one more class
• 1:59: don’t you do it. Don’t raise your hand to asks what we’re doing *student who comes in late raises hand on Microsoft Teams* and here we go
• 2:09: why do we only have 20 minutes for Advisory? That’s like nothing. I don’t understand.
• 2:16: How many students are going to show up in this class today?
• 2:26: oh we have 7 today! That’s almost our record!
• 2:29: yay you remembered to record!
• 2:34: Yes I know you know it and I appreciate you answering questions, but I hate that you’re the only student that talks to me in this class.
• 2:48: I need to use the bathroom. But I can’t leave while teaching. Maybe when they’re doing their work.
• 3:00: wow! It’s already 3:00!
• 3:08: Do you think my kids will notice if I just leave to go to the bathroom?
• 3:10: why is the bathroom so far away from my classroom?
• 3:14: Okay I’m back and the world doesn’t seem to be ending so we might be okay.
• 3:20: I feel bad for these kids who are failing but literally all they gotta do is show up and do work. I can’t help them if I don’t know how to help them.
• 3:22: Put the windowshades down and change the letter on my desk so I know which day of teaching and change the desk calendar
• 3:23: close out all programs I’m not using
• 3:25: We’re done and my kids are done. Am I a bad teacher letting them out 5 minutes early?
• 3:25 (a few seconds later): Nope. I don’t care. Let’s hang it up.
• 3:26: I’ll do my PowerPoint in the morning. I’ll have time
• 3:27: close out computer and finish any last things.
• 3:28: School keys in bag, car keys in hand, sunglasses on head
• 3:29: Am I ready for tomorrow? Computers away and desk in order!
• 3:30: there’s the chime. Now I don’t feel bad for leaving.
• 3:31: When’s the next break?
• 3:32: Tomorrow is A Day. Yay! That means I get a prep and a class that will actually talk to me!

Please don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. But that doesn’t mean I love every second. I get frustrated and have to remind myself to breathe and not let my emotions get the best of me. I think about food and how tired I am. Teaching doesn’t consume all I do because at the end of the day, it’s just a job. But I feel that providing my thoughts puts teaching a little more into perspective.