Life for many teachers has changed a lot over the past few weeks - working from home, teaching lessons remotely and seeing very few students in person.
But what’s become clear as the lockdown continues is that the work teachers do has been thrown into sharp relief like never before.
And a number of celebrities have been at the forefront of making sure teachers know that their work is appreciated.
The latest to be spotted showing his appreciation is comedian Will Ferrell. The Anchorman actor was papped picking up rubbish outside his home sporting a T-shirt that read “Pay teachers more money”.
As a teacher, I greatly appreciate Will Ferrell. Preach! pic.twitter.com/AF8Y7e8hrh
- Chris Dier (@chrisdier) April 21, 2020
Will had previously said on The Ellen Show: “As a parent of three boys, it’s a lot of chaos, and all parenting rules go completely out the window,” going on to say “It’s like running a small correctional facility. I want to get high powered water cannons installed so I can just hose them down.”
He’s not the only one questioning teachers’ salaries. Holding a large glass of wine aloft after a fortnight of homeschooling, actor John Krasinski launched a petition for teachers to be paid “$1.71 million. Per day” on his YouTube show Some Good News.
Other celebrities have been taking to social media showing their efforts in homeschooling, Kim Kardashian even asked her 166 million Instagram followers for help.
“What is everyone doing to keep your kids entertained???” she asked, “As a family, we are social distancing but need some fun ideas of what to do! Any suggestions would help!”
She went on to say when being interviewed on an American talk show, “I’ve been doing laundry and cooking and being their teacher too.” she said, “I have newfound respect for teachers. They deserve so much.”
Meanwhile James Corden had this to say, “The homeschooling thing is a nightmare. My respect for teachers is through the roof.”
Other celebrities have found their own techniques for homeschooling. Ryan Reynolds, speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, said that he and his wife Blake Lively were doing a lot of homeschooling in their garden, jokingly adding, “but I’m mostly drinking”.
Posts echoing these sentiments are regularly seen on social media, in particular the calls for better teacher pay.
