The coronavirus pandemic has presented a uniquely challenging and unprecedented environment for students and teachers alike. With many students continuing their education from home, making sure students are learning and not falling behind has been a real concern among teachers who have to teach from the often cold and unstimulating virtual classroom.
For one Texas teacher, her students falling behind definitely was not an option—even it meant teaching from a hospital bed.
Garland ISD teacher Stephany Hume has been gaining widespread attention on social media recently after a photo began circulating showing her virtually instructing students from a hospital bed.
A two-time cancer survivor, Hume had to undergo emergency surgery that forced her to miss class time, according to local news outlet NBCDFW-5.
Hume initially had her mother sub in for her during the operation, but mere hours after the surgery, Hume was reportedly teaching right from her hospital bed.
“I was asking the doctor, ‘Can I go now? Can I go now?’ And he’s like, ‘You have a temperature of 102. You have to stay,” Hume told NBCDFW-5.
Even though Hume felt eager to start teaching her students again after the operation, many online felt unsettled at the fact that the elementary school teacher felt the need to teach right out of surgery, with one even calling the circumstance a ”dystopian horror.”
“No teacher in the history of teachers at ANY LEVEL has ever been paid enough to justify going to these lengths. Doesn’t warm my heart at all,” one tweeted in response to Hume’s story.
Others echoed the sentiment that the story “is not heart warming.” “There is absolutely nothing to celebrate about this. In fact, this story is a glaring example of how broken this country is,” a user said.
Hume mother’s and retired teacher Susie Harris told NBC DFW-5 that having 41 years of teaching experience made her understand her daughter’s desire to start teaching again. “I was thinking she needed to rest but being a teacher myself I understood,” Harris said.
Hume has since been discharged and has resumed her teaching duties full-time.
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