In the next few weeks, millions of teachers will reenter their classrooms for the first time in six months (and in some states, they already have). Although some students are staying at home and participating in virtual learning, others will be headed back to school with their teachers who have been working hard to come up with ways to help keep them safe. And when they do, they'll enter a new "normal" for how the school day will look. For many, that means smaller class sizes, mandatory face masks, and desks placed 6 feet apart.
This strange new world may feel uncomfortably sterile and even scary for students, as well as educators. But teachers around the country are doing their best to make their classrooms feel safe and welcoming again, even if it takes a little extra work (and is all on their own dime). For the last few weeks, they've been sharing glimpses of what their new classrooms will look like on social media, and the photos range from inspiring to … well, deeply sobering.
Some teachers have used their creative skills to turn classroom desks into works of art ...
Those instructors include Jennifer Birch Pierson, a kindergarten teacher from Texas who went viral this month after turning desks into mini "trucks" on the road.
Knowing that her kindergartners might have trouble with the whole 6 feet apart thing, Pierson dug into her own pockets, worked some magic with a little cardboard and paint, and … voila! The results were these socially distant truck desks.
Before long, these "truck desks" caught on like wildfire, inspiring others to make to make similar transformations.
Like this first-grade teacher, who turned her students' desks into colorful Jeeps — complete with "license plates" on the front with each students' name! (Clever, huh?)
Another teacher in Nevada hopped on the bandwagon too, creating her own versions of the truck desks.
This time, they were all green and, because of differences in district guidelines, they do not feature plastic dividers. But once again, license plates served as name tags so the students would know which desk was theirs.
Another teacher turned her students' desks into fun picnic tables by cutting up inexpensive tablecloths from Dollar Tree.
The idea is to get kids excited about reading by starting "Book Tastings." In addition to dressing up each desk as a mini picnic table, the teacher stacked books from different literary genres on top so kids can try out different types of books (without swapping or sharing) and then discuss their favorites with the class.
Not every classroom set-up being shared has been "fun" and "inspiring," though.
In fact, some classroom photos have been stark reminders of just how serious this pandemic still is.
George Berry, who works as a physics teacher in Comal County, Texas, shared a photo of himself sitting behind his desk earlier this month. In it, Berry sits masked-up while peeking through a window-like cutout he fashioned out of tarp-like plastic and duct tape. The entire contraption covers his desk and looks like something out of the movie Outbreak. And yet … it's completely for real.
A sign that hangs overhead is perhaps the most unnerving part of all: "I want to survive and see you thrive," it reads — which pretty much says everything you need to know about teaching in 2020.
Other teachers have started to open up about their district's dismal attempts at keeping them safe.
In one recent tweet, a teacher shared the clear plastic shower curtain his school placed strategically in front of his desk. Presumably, it's meant to block airflow in the classroom while still allowing students to see their teacher. How effective it could possibly be remains to be seen, but the mere sight of it is a sad commentary on where the US is right now.
Believe it or not, the shower curtain thing seems to be catching on ...
One science teacher showed off her own attempts at crafting a shower curtain barrier around her desk. (Though at least hers fully covers all four sides.)
Other teachers are using shower curtains for different things ...
… Like covering up this classroom library?
Another man took to Instagram to share the "DIY sneeze guards" he made for his wife's classroom.
Apparently, he used laundry racks from Walmart, a clear shower curtain, and spring clamps to make it happen. (And once again, this was all funded on the teacher's dime — not with any help from school funding.)
Other teachers have resorted to using caution tape to draw boundary lines around their desks.
This is meant to create a "safety zone" of sorts, and keep students at least 6 feet away at all times. But as more and more teachers are posting photos of this on Twitter, users can't help but comment on how many things have changed in just a few months.
"Aren't these crazy times we are living in!!?" one person tweeted.
Apparently, the "caution tape" solution is catching on around the world too.
This teacher in Scotland placed "police" tape around her desk to keep students 6 feet away. (Interestingly, though, it appears as though students are still permitted to sit at shared desks without barriers.)
Meanwhile, other teachers are dealing with the challenges of not being able to place student desks 6 feet apart.
Scott Bailey, an English teacher at Rancho Buena Vista High School in California, filmed the view from inside his classroom after he set it up according to school safety guidelines. And, according to Bailey, it simply doesn't work.
"I set up my classroom based on COVID-19 physical distancing regs and this is what I ended up with," he tweeted on August 19.
In the end, he could only fit 19 or 20 desks (with some desks right up against the white board), even though his total class size is about 33 to 34.
The question school districts need to ask themselves now, he says, is "either hire a lot more teachers OR ignore heath regs OR commit to all virtual school for the fall."
He's not the only one who has raised alarm bells about this.
Earlier this month, a woman tweeted that she attempted to help her mom set up her classroom according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and also realized how impossible it was. Because of the number of kids per classroom, the desks could only be set apart a maximum of 3 feet.
Another teacher could only configure her desks to be 2 feet apart.
And the difference between what they should look like versus what they do look like is … pretty disturbing.
In fact, teachers who have the ability to place desks 6 feet apart seem to be pretty lucky.
In some cases, that's because their district has limited class sizes or because schools have switched to a hybrid curriculum, with only some students coming in on certain days.
In many of these cases, the classrooms look pretty stark and barren.
That's particularly true in classrooms for older students. (After all, high school teachers aren't exactly going to dig into their own pockets to create "truck desks" for teenagers — nor should they.)
But in 2020, this is the least of a teacher's worries.
Other schools are relying on desk barriers to create a separation between students, if they can't put desks far enough apart.
This school in Tallahassee, Florida, is using plastic dividers to create a barrier between students in the classroom, which have clear plastic fronts so they can see who's in front of them.
"These are designed to help our younger students with social distancing in the classroom setting starting September 8th," a tweet from Tallahassee City Schools shared on August 17.
In fact, educators are placing a lot of trust in plexiglass barriers, otherwise known as desk shields.
So are businesses. Plexiglass shields have been popping up everywhere from convenience stores to doctors' offices to restaurants — and some experts wonder if they're here to stay.
Time will tell, however, just how effective they really are in protecting against the virus.
Last week, a Florida teacher shared the view from inside her classroom, and commented on how different it is now from the spring.
Desk shields with black borders sit atop every single desk … but most disturbing of all is the black garbage bag that covers the water fountain, preventing anyone from having a sip.
She likely sat there and wondered the same thing we all are now: Will this be the new norm for years? Will teachers never again look out at a classroom without seeing a desk shield? Right now, it feels hard to say for sure.
Still, teachers who have no choice but to head back to school are trying their darndest to make things fun for kids however they can.
And, in some cases, they're trying hard to put parents at ease too.The faculty at this school hosted a back-to-school "Drive-Thru" to replace in-person Meet the Teacher night.
Was it a little weird? Probably. But they're making it work — even when faced with mounting anxiety and a million unknowns. Just as we all are.
