Working as an elementary school teacher from home, it's taken a toll on Nancy Shively.

And I'm not just talking about an emotional toll.

I'm talking about a physical toll.

You can see it in her living room.

Oh, man, I've got tubs piled up, and I got boxes of regular like desk supplies and like coffee maker and all that.

Nancy teaches special ed, mostly works with second and third graders.

She lives just outside Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I used to tell people I live halfway between the pioneer woman and Garth Brooks.

But Garth Brooks moved back to Nashville, so that ruined that.

I love that. I love that.

What would you normally be doing around this time of year?

I would have already gotten the key to my classroom when I would be up there trying to figure out how to set my

desks up. You know, I'd be setting up the bulletin boards.

Of course, this fall is going to be a little different, with teachers like Nancy wondering if the coronavirus is waiting for them back in the classroom.

You can hear Nancy calculating these trade-offs in our head whenever she talks

because she knows how essential being physically present is for her kids,

especially after experimenting with remote learning in the spring.

We're in a rural area, so a lot of kids don't have internet connectivity, or if they do,

maybe the only device they have is a parent's phone. So, yeah, it makes it really hard,

especially when you're working with special needs kids.

There was one little girl that even their cell phone service wasn't that great.

There was a lot of cutting out and that's what made it difficult.

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