Georgeanne Warnock knows what it鈥檚 like to be a teacher but, until recently, she didn鈥檛 know what it was like to be a teacher working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Terrell, Texas, superintendent, a former English teacher, recently added herself to her district鈥檚 pool of substitute teachers, and she鈥檚 taken to TikTok to share the challenges, frustrations, and fresh ideas she鈥檚 encountered.
Like school systems around the country, the 5,000-student Terrell district has faced staffing challenges, creating an all-hands-on-deck scenario when classrooms need to be covered.
The experience has given Warnock a fresh view of what teachers and students face, she said.
Warnock鈥檚 TikTok account called has amassed more than 19,000 followers since she posted her first video in November. There, teachers around the country comment on struggles with issues like standardized testing, burnout, and supporting students after interruptions to in-person learning.
Warnock spoke to Education Week about stepping into the classroom, supporting staff morale, and her decision to share her experiences on the internet.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you end up substitute teaching in your district?
Last year as we started to have a sub shortage, as our teachers were quarantining or out with COVID, we set up a substitute bank of all of our central office personnel. I was on the list, and what I found was that no one ever called me. I guess the assumption was that I鈥檓 too busy. So this year as we鈥檝e continued with sub shortages, I just said, 鈥淥K, if I鈥檓 not gonna get called, then I鈥檓 just coming.鈥� So I started at our middle and high schools where we had our two greatest needs.
The discourse I'm hearing from our teachers is that, even if we can't make it better overnight, having us step into the trenches and witness the struggle firsthand has made a morale difference.
We鈥檇 been doing things to just really trying to love on our teachers. One day in September, we took Sonic drinks out to every campus. One of the teachers told me, 鈥淵ou know, Dr. Warnock, that was awesome, but I would have loved it if you would鈥檝e just come and taken over the class.鈥� You know, it was great that everybody got drinks, but she had given up her conference period to cover for a colleague that was out that day.
Districts around the country have struggled with adequate staffing this year. What has it been like for your school system?
It鈥檚 a really big deal. We have a labor shortage, even though we鈥檝e increased our substitute pay, we鈥檙e offering retention incentives for substitutes, and we鈥檙e offering attendance incentives for teachers to try to address the issue. We have several hard-to-staff positions that we have not been able to fill, so we have long-term subs in those positions.
One day last week, we had 12 substitutes needed at the high school and only six [positions] that were filled. So that鈥檚 48 class periods then that have to be covered by somebody. So then someone gets pulled out of their formal responsibility or central office role to cover classes.
I subbed in a class at the middle school last week where they had two 7th grade science classes brought in [to the same classroom to be covered by one teacher]. We have coverage in the classrooms then, but we don鈥檛 have the best learning environment for students when that鈥檚 happening.
Are there things about the COVID-19 crisis and recovery that you understand better after spending more time in the classroom? Things you had to see to understand?
I think COVID has highlighted and exaggerated some [student] behaviors that we were already seeing. I think that kids mimic the behavior that they see adults model. We are in the midst of a pretty vitriolic atmosphere with not a lot of moderation or consensus and a pretty disrespectful public discourse. I think kids pick up on that. They talk the way they see adults talk.
It鈥檚 not all kids, it鈥檚 a small percentage, just like some of the vitriol [from adults] is a small percentage of loud voices. But it makes it hard on a teacher who鈥檚 weary, where there are learning gaps for students that they鈥檙e trying to close. And we鈥檝e come back as states with the same demands of tests, and rigor [as schools have in a typical school year] and 鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna hold you accountable.鈥� I think all of that is contributing to kind of a powder keg for teachers right now.
In your TikTok videos, you share even small things that you notice from being in the classroom, like how substitute teachers don鈥檛 have access to dry erase markers in locked supply cabinets.
Teachers, subs, school staff, administrators have to make a million decisions on the fly every minute in the classroom, so it鈥檚 a problem to not have the things you need.
I鈥檝e noticed the littlest things, like the pencil sharpeners weren鈥檛 working in the middle school, or I was really thirsty and wanted to go get ice water and the ice machine was broken in the teachers鈥� lounge. Kids say they don鈥檛 have a pencil or paper [to do a classroom assignment], which could be because they actually don鈥檛 have one or it could be an avoidance tactic.
So I鈥檝e said, 鈥淚f this doesn鈥檛 work, we need to fix that.鈥� We鈥檙e creating little substitute bags for our offices to have, and we鈥檙e gonna replenish those with things like a pack of sharpened pencils, paper, Band-Aids, and [dry erase] markers, so they can write on the board.
The discourse I鈥檓 hearing from our teachers is that, even if we can鈥檛 make it better overnight, having us step into the trenches and witness the struggle firsthand has made a morale difference. Our general counsel is not a teacher, he鈥檚 an attorney. And when he鈥檚 out subbing now every week in the classroom, he鈥檚 sharing his experience and coming back understanding HR challenges. He鈥檚 actually putting on the teacher鈥檚 shoes, and there鈥檚 a lot of value in that.
What made you decide to share your experience on TikTok?
I have teenage and college-age children, so I joined TikTok really to troll them. I had been an avid follower on TikTok who had never created content. I got deep into the teacher TikTok world and heard their concerns, struggles, challenges, and thoughts about where leadership is struggling for them or failing them. So I just wanted to offer a perspective and say, 鈥淗ey, I see you. Let鈥檚 try to figure this out together.鈥�
I鈥檒l get some supportive comments and then some people will say, 鈥淲ell, you aren鈥檛 doing X, Y or Z,鈥� or 鈥淗ave you thought about this?鈥� It鈥檚 great learning for me.
Sometimes being a superintendent can be like being the emperor with no clothes on in your own district. As much as I want to cultivate an open door and approachability, sometimes people are afraid of that or don鈥檛 trust that. But a teacher from Montana can tell me exactly what they think without any kind of repercussion. That gives me an open door to ask some of my staff like, 鈥淗ey, somebody made this comment. What do you think? Is that a problem here? What can we do to solve it?鈥�
You鈥檙e doing this at a time when there are some strained connections between parents and schools in some school districts. I noticed you did a video in response to a commenter who said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care what you鈥檙e learning. I care what the kids are learning.鈥� Is it vulnerable to share your experiences in this way?
Yeah. You know, I got my first superintendent job here in a new community in January of 2020, and then in March of 鈥�20, the world stopped turning.
I have really worked in our community. We have a very active Facebook presence with parents and community here, and I鈥檝e worked to leverage that as a tool to engage. We鈥檝e done Facebook live, question-and-answer posts, and weekly updates with our community. I think that has really been a trust builder.
I think sometimes we miss the boat in leadership when we don鈥檛 just lean into our authentic selves. And I think it鈥檚 valuable to just share what I鈥檓 thinking. When I do our Facebook Lives with our community, I don鈥檛 ever work from a script. I think that having some authenticity and being willing to be vulnerable and open up some is trust building, not trust breaking.
Have you learned anything about the student or family experience by being in the classroom in this way?
I always believe that when there鈥檚 something going on, when there is a behavior concern or you鈥檙e connecting with a kid, there鈥檚 always a story there. There鈥檚 not a person we wouldn鈥檛 love if we could read their story.
In one class where I substituted, the teacher had left a quick writing prompt for students to respond to as they were coming in: 鈥淚f you had three wishes, what would you wish for?鈥� And I was walking around reading over their shoulders, most of the kids were wishing to bring back someone who they had lost in the past year. Just seeing that really written on the page gives some insight into the statistics we see on the news every day.
In one video, you discuss a from the TV show 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek鈥� where one character is reading a recipe to another. She keeps telling him to fold in the cheese and it鈥檚 clear neither of them knows what that means, so she keeps insistently saying 鈥渇old it in鈥� as if that will make it clearer. Can you think of some things leaders have said to teachers that maybe don鈥檛 make sense on the ground?
Oh, I think we have a lot of fold-it-in moments. We say, 鈥淲ell, we鈥檙e just gonna have to differentiate to close the gap,鈥� or 鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna use the data to see where we need to backfill the learning.鈥� Well, how exactly do we do that? 69传媒 have had a lot of discussion that we can鈥檛 remediate because we can鈥檛 lose 18 months of time, so we鈥檙e gonna have to 鈥渁ccelerate the learning.鈥� That鈥檚 some of the verbiage that I hear that, collectively educators are asking, 鈥淲hat does that mean? You show me exactly how we do that.鈥�
Do you plan to keep substitute teaching when the pandemic is over?
One hundred percent. I think I would really like to take on one class period, like to teach language arts class at the high school, with the same group of kids all year. If not that, then definitely I will continue substituting, even after COVID, because it has been just really eye-opening for me.
It鈥檚 helped me to build relationships with teachers in some different ways. You know, our work is all about relationships. Observing and being visible on campuses is not the same as taking on the teacher鈥檚 role.
