The School at my Dining Room Table Sucks

[Caroline]

On 4/16/2020 at 10:06 PM, Sweet Caroline said:

Fourth grade teacher here. Let’s just remember we are all trying to do our best in a very unusual situation. When I said good-bye to my students on March 13th, I had no idea we would still be apart today.

My district has been pretty strict with what we give our students. They are given assignments in 9 different subjects. The students must do math and reading, and choose work from four other subjects. The reading I assign is a minimum of 40 minutes and the math is about an hour. That is per day. We are required to go live or record a video at least 4 times per week. We are to be available to our students from 8-3:00. I am pretty much glued to my laptop all day, checking emails, responding to texts, grading assignments, creating new lessons, etc. I would much rather be back in the classroom. 

Parents, do the best you can. Some of you feel like the teachers aren’t doing enough or too much. As a teacher, I could say the same about some of my parents. Some want more work, others have vocalized that their child will not be participating in online learning at all.

If anything, this situation has made us look at each other in a new light. Healthcare workers, police officers, paramedics and fire fighters, grocery clerks, postal workers, truck drivers, etc. have suddenly gained more appreciation. I hope after this, my students’ parents appreciate me more. One mom told me today she has never had more respect for teachers until now. I know that I have a lot of respect for parents put in a situation they were not prepared for.  It will be interesting to see where we are when this finally comes to an end. 

I'm just seeing this now, and can relate to much of what you said.  I teach high school and am also tethered to my computer from 7:30 till 3:00 every day.  One month later, I still don't find remote teaching any easier.  I spend many hours per week Google Meeting with kids who just can't do the work or organize themselves without my individual help and handholding. .  Some have parents who aren't home because they have to work, and the kids have no idea how to develop a routine for themselves.  We were told that grades cannot be lower than they were for third quarter, but we are also being told to hold kids to completing as many of the competencies as we deem possible for the fourth quarter.  We teach in a proficiency based model, so pass/fail is not an option.  Several students will need to spend some of the summer and next year doing what they have in some cases chosen not to do despite many, many contacts with kids and parents by me, guidance, and even the school principal.  One student explained that she normally doesn't do homework (true), and all of this feels like homework (also true).  But, but the same token, these kids are in high school and many can do better.  A lot of our students' parents finally have to face how little their kids do at school academically without a struggle.  I know they are frustrated, but some are realizing how difficult their kids really are to work with at school.    We have one more month to go and no guarantee that we won't be doing this again in the Fall.   No offense to any parents and kids doing their very best, but some days I feel like I'm not being heard or taken seriously in this model.  

 

[HereComesTreble]

7 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

I'm jealous and I'm a teacher. Less than a month though. I think everyone will hear me cry if we have to start next year with virtual teaching.  

I’m getting the feeling that our district’s will continue virtual learning (half time online, half time in school) next school year. That way, they’d have half kids on campus one day, the other half the next day.

I can’t even.  The idea of tackling homeschool beyond this school year is just too much.  All I can do is pray this all somehow gets better soon.  

[Ozlsn]

19 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

We only have ten more days of homeschooling! 

I think I might be more excited that the kids 

My state announced this morning that P-2, 11 and 12 will go back on the 26th, 3-10 Will go back on the 9th June. My Facebook promptly split into "Oh no! My kids are in the middle years! Damn!"; "Oh no! I am going to have one at school and one at home for two weeks!"; "Yay! Kids are going back!"; and "I'm not sending my kids back until it's totally safe." groups. I'm in the third group, after last week running out of one Zoom meeting 3 times to stop my child doing something stupid (climb into overhead cupboards mostly). I think he's frankly at less risk at school.

[Ozlsn]

21 hours ago, apandaaries said:

That’d be so nice...and so difficult to implement. 
if, as a US high school teacher, you have 30 kids per classes, (I and lets be generous with only 5 classes), that would About  150 daily emails.

Trachers are struggling these days too. Sad fact( but still true.

I should probably mention at this point that my son's class has 8 kids in it, two of whom are children of essential workers and at school with a different teacher. So I think in our case it's probably a bit more feasible, especially as the other five want fortnightly! Heh. I am so glad that this is soon to be moot though - as is every single one of my friends who is a teacher, and who have a workload much closer to your example. Really hoping we don't have a spike in the next month and shut again. 

 

[Melissa1977]

My kids are not coming back to school until September. My eldest (high school) is OK with online classes, but my youngest is only 6, hates online classes, needs me a lot as a "teacher" and I have little time to dedicate to him. I'm very worried. 

[PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea]

Hi all! Hugs all around to those who want them. It's a crazy time!

I teach university and my partner teaches high school math. While at uni we're trying to get some learning objectives crammed into the students, high school here is much more crisis management. Everyone knows we'll have to repeat a lot of material next year. Everyone knows not every family can devote much/any time to schooling. It's fine. It's a pandemic. The kids will catch up.

We were told our priorities are, in order: student metal health, actually learning the material, and dead last, making sure cheating is hard.

I don't have kids so my advice is likely crap, but why not focus on reading/math and have kids help with whatever you're cooking or cleaning? There's lots of learning to be done there. And I have great memories of baking with my mom. 

If your kid finishes early, just let her pick a book to read and give her free time. You do not need to find new worksheets for her, I promise. Maybe she can do some independent research on something she's interested in.

[keen23]

My middle schooler's "last day" was 05/07, and the high schoolers were 05/11. They're done until 08/03, not that the high school kids did much of anything for the past month.

[Someone Out There]

On 5/12/2020 at 10:36 PM, Melissa1977 said:

My kids are not coming back to school until September. My eldest (high school) is OK with online classes, but my youngest is only 6, hates online classes, needs me a lot as a "teacher" and I have little time to dedicate to him. I'm very worried. 

For the Grade 1 kid I would aim for them reading out loud to you for a bit (reading ability/comprehension/vocabulary/grammar), you reading to them (vocabulary, maybe this does grammar too i'm not sure, could just be their bedtime story), some writing (fine motor control and reading ability/comprehension, bonus points for them writing stories), and some maths (addition/subtraction to whatever level is appropriate there and potentially incorporated into other things).

Bonus points for them doing projects/investigating things they want answers to/are interested in.

Other than that, get them to do some drawing (again fine motor control), active playing around (I'm thinking things like playground equipment but if that's not possible where you are there are some youtube exercise programs designed for kids that might work), and helping you with tasks you need to do such as baking.  Baking you could talk about interactions of ingredients and temperature to help them rise (e.g. with baking soda/powder or whichever it is).  Kids also learn a lot by playing with their toys.

I found this for the Australian curriculum for grade 1 and 2 (I'm not sure what your area has) https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/Information_for_parents_years_1_-_2.pdf .  A fair bit of it to me looks like it could be incorporated into general life.

Does he like playing computer games?  If so there are probably games that are good for developing the various aspects of what he needs to learn (e.g. there are maths games out there, and there would be some where you incidentally learn history etc).

[LilMissMetaphor]

If we have to keep this up through June 18th, when their normal school year is supposed to end, I'm gonna lose it. 

Still officially off till the end of May but we're supposed to find out this week what the plan is for the rest.  Best case scenario IMO is for the kids to return for the three weeks of June.  Alternatively I'd be okay with maybe one week of wrap-up online learning for the first week of June and then just let them start their summer.

My 4th grader's teacher keeps posting page after page of the same multiplication activity.  Day after day.  I think he's supposed to do the 15th page today.  Yet when he got excited about making a handmade axe with natural materials he'd scavenged outside, and I encouraged him to send a pic to his teacher, she didn't bother to comment.   

I get that she's busy and overwhelmed too, but she finds the time for stock comments on their other assigned work.  He kept coming to me and asking if she'd commented yet. 

[PsyD2013]

There is talk in my district that there will be a combination of virtual learning and brick and mortar in the fall.    My kid, the one who refused to do the "enrichment" work and took the college course instead, has decided he is desperate to get back to normal school.  I've been fired as his school of the dining room table teacher, and to be honest I want my dining room back (that is where he does his class) because I am doing telehealth in our home office.  

[LilMissMetaphor]

Welp, neither scenario played out...online learning continues for the next 5 weeks, despite the fact that we're very isolated, and there's no cases in our community.  I get it, you can't have different rules for different areas.  I'm just...not looking forward to the rest of this.

27 days of crap to go!

[Flossie]

On 5/13/2020 at 7:01 AM, LilMissMetaphor said:

If we have to keep this up through June 18th, when their normal school year is supposed to end, I'm gonna lose it. 

Still officially off till the end of May but we're supposed to find out this week what the plan is for the rest.  Best case scenario IMO is for the kids to return for the three weeks of June.  Alternatively I'd be okay with maybe one week of wrap-up online learning for the first week of June and then just let them start their summer.

My 4th grader's teacher keeps posting page after page of the same multiplication activity.  Day after day.  I think he's supposed to do the 15th page today.  Yet when he got excited about making a handmade axe with natural materials he'd scavenged outside, and I encouraged him to send a pic to his teacher, she didn't bother to comment.   

I get that she's busy and overwhelmed too, but she finds the time for stock comments on their other assigned work.  He kept coming to me and asking if she'd commented yet. 

Keep trying.  If you want, you could post a pic of the ax here and I for one would gladly tell your little guy how great he did.

[TeddyBonkers]

On 5/13/2020 at 10:01 AM, LilMissMetaphor said:

 

My 4th grader's teacher keeps posting page after page of the same multiplication activity.  Day after day.  I think he's supposed to do the 15th page today.  Yet when he got excited about making a handmade axe with natural materials he'd scavenged outside, and I encouraged him to send a pic to his teacher, she didn't bother to comment.   

This random internet stranger (feel free to use less creepy language lol) thinks that is amazing!! High five to your son!

[HereComesTreble]

We’ve got one week left of this school year!  Time has been crawling by, but we’ve almost made it.  Bonus, I’m pretty confident my high schooler is going to pass all of his classes (big whew!).

anyway...so excited, because this year has been...

 

 

[Audrey2]

@LilMissMetaphor, Another random Internet stranger who is hoping to get hired as a third or fourth grade teacher next year with what I would have said.

That is such a cool idea to create an axe! What made you decide to create it? What materials did you use? Were any parts of the design or the building hard for you? Would you change anything if you built another one?

[Caroline]

57 minutes ago, HereComesTreble said:

We’ve got one week left of this school year!  Time has been crawling by, but we’ve almost made it.  Bonus, I’m pretty confident my high schooler is going to pass all of his classes (big whew!).

anyway...so excited, because this year has been...

 

 

I was feeling better today too (I"m a teacher who is so ready to be done with remote teaching) because we only have two more weeks to go.  Then, at a staff meeting, another person mentioned that all the superintendents in the state have pretty much determined that it's unlikely we're going back to school in the Fall.  I can only hope this person misheard, because I feel like I'll have to retire early if that happens.  I was deflated really quickly.  

[Ozlsn]

We're going back to at least four weeks of distance education due to a renewed outbreak where I live (Melbourne, Australia). While I am glad everything is being taken seriously (at least part of this outbreak centres around a school) I am also less than enthused about the whole thing. 

Seriously 2020 should be the "Year of The Pupil-Free Day" as week keep having more of them while the schools work out how to juggle things.

[bird]

The school at my diningroom table has had MULTIPLE swimming galas, sports days and inset days. It is currently closed for teacher training. 

I love my kids and I love having them home with me but I am not a teacher! Longest 15 weeks ever. 

Just here to send my best to everyone still going. And congratulate everyone who made it to summer holidays. 

 

[HereComesTreble]

It looks like here in San Diego, California, we will be started next school year 100% online; with no estimated return date for on campus classes.  

I want to scream and cry (but I won’t).  I’m especially worried about my son with special needs.  At school, he receives therapies and social skills classes that simply cannot be replicated at home.  These months away from school have already resulted in regression of many of his hard-won improvements.

Alas, this pandemic is a real crisis.  Pandemics have terrible consequences, across the board. I understand our schools district’s decision and I support them.  Still, it doesn’t suck any less.

Edited July 15, 2020 by HereComesTreble
Grammar, arrrg

[Cults-r-us]

I am an admit nurse in an ambulatory pre-surgery area. So I meet lots of fol ask them all how the home-schooling went. These are my informal survey results: By far, elementary school age children are the most oppositional ("they just don't want to do it"). One man said his daughters' schoolwork was in the same format as at school and he had no trouble w/compliance (apparantly that school has curriculum that is transferrable to other settings). Amazingly, thete is no shortage of children callef "Fat Daddy".

   People with multiple children have one child that excels and another stubborn child who will not learn and a mix of the two extremes with the other kids. Some report no trouble w/multiple childten. One lady said she has the day care do it. Some.people said they gave up. As always, children are opportunists. One lady's kid wouldn't get his thiney out of bed at 11 AM to learn his books on the Zoom, redulting in his mother making numerous phone calls as she was being wheeled to her procedure.

      I helped my stepdaughter and figured out (P)a means probability (She is in like 7th grade). No wonder everybody struggles. Most people said older kids did theur work on their own.

Ps I asked that lady if Icould tell her story.

[CTRLZero]

Our neighbor, a retired educator, was filling us in on her grandchildren's plans for the upcoming school year.  Whether students are called back to the elementary school or not, due to health problems of a few of the parents (including my neighbor's daughter), they are unwilling to send their children back and forth to a large elementary school setting.  So several families have joined together and formed a "pod" (I've heard the term "quaranpod").  I don't know all the details, but here are a few she shared.

One of the parents in their "pod" has dedicated a three-car garage as a classroom.  They have already practiced having science and art project lessons there (with six large tables and even lab coats for the kids).  The set up is for a teacher and six well-distanced learning stations for six students at a time.  My neighbor said the kids are learning well, but it is sad that they are not really allowed to mingle.

To add some variety, each parent will teach some subject in their home setting, so the kids will rotate to new surroundings on occasion.  I am sure they will also be taking Zoom type lessons, and SOTDRT with their own parents.

I am not sure how many kids are involved in this pod, but the parents include some former teachers who plan to keep things organized and on track.  My neighbor will also be helping out, and she has decades of experience in teaching elementary school.  The downside as she sees it is lack of meeting a variety of students; the upside is hopefully her immuno-compromised daughter won't be exposed to the virus.

It was interesting listening to my neighbor, who is a lifelong proponent of public education, come up with a system of education which is a hybrid of classroom and homeschooling.  They are doing the best they can in horrible times. 

[Ozlsn]

We're still remote learning, for a definition of "learning" that is wildly variable depending on the day. I'm now hoping that we might (maybe, with lots of luck) be able to get back to school for term 4, which starts in October. Child is really missing school, mostly the routine and familiarity I think. I am not great at juggling full time WFH and attempting to teach. (That is an understatement. I suck so badly at it I do not have the words to describe the bottomless pit of my inability to get child to focus on maths at any time,let alone while trying to work out why this effing spreadsheet is 6 cents out.)

On the positive side a combination of YouTube videos and an oversized world map on special at Officeworks means that child can now reliably identify most world countries and their flags (except South Sudan which is not on this slightly outdated map. I need to draw a border in with a sharpie). 

[keen23]

All of my kids are home doing online school through at least 10/12. The schools are doing block schedules this year, and my high school kids kind of like only having three classes a day instead of 6.

[JermajestyDuggar]

We will start the school year doing online school. My youngest is going into kindergarten. I have a feeling virtual kindergarten is going to be pointless. Especially since I suck at homeschooling. 

[Coconut Flan]

My granddaughter is getting online kindergarten also.  I have volunteered to do back up tutoring by Facetime for her.