Michigan teacher: Kids are heroes but something is going to break
Ingrid Fournier is a veteran teacher who leads a fifth-grade classroom in Ludington. (Bridge courtesy photo)
by Ron French (Bridge Michigan)
It been a tough year for Ludington Area Schools鈥 fifth-grade teacher Ingrid Fournier. She sleeps more. She hikes more. She drinks more. Sometimes, she cries at the wheel of her Toyota RAV 4 as she drives to Foster Elementary in the morning, wondering how many children will be in class that day.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember a day when they were all there,鈥 Fournier said.
Between positive COVID tests, quarantines and parents pulling students from school so they can de-stress, Fournier said she never sure who will be in class, or how far behind they鈥檒l be after days or weeks away.
鈥淚鈥檝e been teaching for 26 years, and the phrase I keep returning to is that it unsustainable,鈥 Fournier said of teaching during COVID.
Bridge Michigan spoke with the veteran teacher recently to help chronicle what life is like inside a typical Michigan classroom during the third school year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Every school and classroom is different, and Fournier doesn鈥檛 speak for all teachers, but her description is similar to that described to Bridge by many other educators.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Ludington and most Michigan schools have, generally, been held in-person this year. What has attendance been like in your classroom?
I have 27 students on my roster. In a normal year, on a regular day, I鈥檇 have 25, 26, or 27 of them here. This year, the average is probably 20 to 22.
Why are so many absent?
I鈥檝e had five who have tested positive themselves, and when that happens they鈥檙e out for 10 school days. We鈥檝e had others out because of close contact (with those who tested positive), some with close contacts in their homes.
I鈥檓 seeing more absences than before because parents were like, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep them home.鈥 We鈥檒l get a note saying why the student isn鈥檛 there, and it鈥檒l say 鈥減ersonal day.鈥
We鈥檝e had one student who stayed home this week because the parents were afraid he would get COVID before the holidays.
What been the impact on learning?
My fifth-graders haven鈥檛 had a full, normal school year since they were in second grade. It like we鈥檙e teaching them how to do school again.
For students in class, everything is (taught) slower, with more explanation.
(For those not in class), we post the homework assignments online; and then they access on their (school-supplied) iPad. They鈥檙e supposed to turn those (assignments) in, but that not happening for the majority of kids.
If you鈥檙e doing quizzes, you鈥檙e left with the question: Do you punish the kids who were home? Because the gaps are bigger. The high (achieving) kids are high, and the low are low, but there aren鈥檛 as many in the middle.
So are you making allowances in your grading, or are grades down?
Both.
I don鈥檛 blame the students. They鈥檙e heroes. They鈥檙e living with fears. There COVID. There are school shootings. And they keep clomping along.
How are you and your colleagues holding up?
We鈥檝e had four positive COVID teachers in the past two week. Our principal and assistant principal were substitute teaching. Our parapros with associate degrees were subbing. Our secretaries are so overwhelmed with contacting parents to tell them to pick up Johnny because they tested positive, and antigen testing, and recording results. It all Band Aids to get through the school day.
My teaching partner (who teaches math and science while Fournier teaches English and social studies) was out for 10 days recently with COVID, and one of those days, I remember driving to school and crying.
I鈥檓 usually the optimist in the room, but this is just unsustainable. It is an emergency situation. We are so strained, something going to break.
We don鈥檛 know when things are going to get back to normal. Is there anything you鈥檇 suggest that could help?
We need nurses in our schools. We need a heck of a lot more counselors for students whose needs are higher than they鈥檝e ever been.
We鈥檙e trying to raise the red flag, but we鈥檙e so exhausted.
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