In-class learning has been going on in some parts of Saskatchewan for a week already, and in many of the other parts of the province, those classes resumed today. Teachers have been bracing for the return to school at a time when cases in Saskatchewan are climbing steadily. 

Adjusting to odd circumstances, however, has been the name of the game for teachers for almost a year now in the time of COVID-19. While there is still a long way to go, they feel they've proven they can handle it so far. 

"It's been an incredibly long road," said Saskatchewan Teacher's Federation president Patrick Maze. "Teachers have responded remarkably well. So many big transitions, it's so easy to say "we go to online learning" or "we've gone to level three"... those changes are incredibly disruptive to teachers and to students."

The ability to handle it doesn't mean they don't want additional support, of course. As vaccinations begin to slowly ramp up in the province, teachers are hoping to be among the next group of people to get priority for vaccinations. 

"We just know that in order to keep our classrooms running," said Maze, "we have adults in the building including teachers, educational assistants, principals, vice-principals, and maintenance staff. If we want to keep those buildings open, we need to make sure that teachers are vaccinated as well."

As well as educators have handled the challenges of learning in a pandemic so far, however, the strain hasn't been easy on them. Like almost any other profession they have anxiety about the pandemic, but some of their worries are very direct. 

"There's also an incredible anxiety throughout the education sector because we know that social distancing can't be practiced in schools," said Maze. "We're doing our best and teachers have done a remarkable job and all school staff have done a remarkable job of keeping students safe and keeping communities safe, but at the same point, it definitely has been a stressful time up until now."

Maze added there were students that had suffered academically because of the pandemic environment, citing things like a lack of group work and a change to the nature of lectures as part of the reason why.