Public school teachers who are losing it

[Janeway]

Has anyone seen this? On FB today, someone posted about how her children have video lessons and she can hear the teacher yelling at the kids and threatening them with flunking and such. Then, a bunch of people have responded to her post that they have seen the same stuff and one parent even posted that her child shut down and won't even participate now. The original poster and the one whose child has shut down are people who I have known for many years and are reasonable people. I heard from another parent previously that the situation is so bad with a classroom teacher that she is trying to un-enroll her child but the school is not really letting her. Most people I know home school so I am not getting a ton of feedback from parents whose kids are in public school, but of those I am hearing from, it is kind of disturbing for some kids. Then one parent who admitted to seeing teachers behaving this way online also defended the teachers stating Covid is stressful so it is okay for the teachers to do this. This was a person replying to the OP who I knew, but I did not know this person. I do not think there is any case where it is okay for the teachers to do this. Also. if they are willing to do this online, just imagine how they were in the classroom. I find it very concerning.

[vonfirmath]

I'm not hearing that here nor have my kids noticed it.

OTOH we are not online all the time. My daughter's teacher is doing an option Zoom for half an hour two days a week. My middle school son has ONE teacher offering a Zoom once a week.

[JustEm]

Havent heard of that. Of my friend who do brick and mortar they are all very impressed by the way teachers have been helpful and supportive. This is across four different districts

[catz]

Haven't heard that.  I try not to invest too much energy in one off stories from people I don't know well.  No, teachers shouldn't be acting unprofessionally.  If schools are requiring kids to be online for many hours especially prior to high school age, that's just a set up for failure anyway.  Families I know locally have had a pretty good experience from what I've sen online.  

Our state has a standard way to withdraw your child from school on the books that involves sending a letter to the school and the superintendent's office.  I don't really get how they can't "let" someone withdraw.  

Edited April 28, 2020 by FuzzyCatz

[73349]

I would advise any parents experiencing that to not have their child attend. There is no way to enforce attendance right now, and the student would do better to sit around and draw or something.

I've only been hearing good things about teachers, but a lot of struggles with the online format.

[QueenCat]

The only thing I've seen are parents who are now realizing just how hard teachers work. They are posting words of gratitude towards their kids' teachers, past and present. And apologizing for not believing the teacher when the teacher said their kid was misbehaving, having issues, etc. Most, if not all, of the teachers I work with go above and beyond the call of duty and miss being with their students right now. 

[MysteryJen]

Huh. For my senior dd2, teachers have been largely absent and doing as little as possible. Except for the absolutely tone deaf assignment for college prep English 12 of "writing a graduation speech."

For a ceremony that has been moved 3x and still might not take place.

While my daughter was weeping and writing, I was enraged.

Not impressed at all.

 

[SKL]

I have not heard this, but I do not actually listen in on my kids' "school at home."

I'm gonna go with "maybe they are like this in school too."  Parents should complain to the principals or whoever if it's that extreme.  (A little annoyance is understandable - but there is a line.)

[Janeway]

8 minutes ago, MysteryJen said:

Huh. For my senior dd2, teachers have been largely absent and doing as little as possible. Except for the absolutely tone deaf assignment for college prep English 12 of "writing a graduation speech."

For a ceremony that has been moved 3x and still might not take place.

While my daughter was weeping and writing, I was enraged.

Not impressed at all.

 

Yeah...from the local public schools here, where I live, out of an entire week, the children might get one assignment. Meanwhile, at the charter school my daughter had been at, it has been reported they keep changing things every week but the kids do have 7+ hrs a day of school work, 2nd grade. My little girl had a virtual playdate and her friend told her that she is so sad because she works all day and still cannot get it all done.

[Pen]

Our teachers have been very nice and I am the one who has been losing it. ☹️

 

[Farrar]

Another vote that this is nothing like what I've heard - not from teacher friends or public school friends.

I am hearing wildly different things about experiences that people are having and how much buy in kids have. But all the parents and teachers I know are basically cutting everyone slack, which seems good. I've also seen more schools going pass fail. I heard about some that made everything for the final quarter be extra credit - so kids can do work and get extra 1/4 credits and grades to improve/support the previous grades or not.

The math teachers seem to have the best set up. One I know just holds office hours for each section a couple times a week. The kids all come and chat and don't have math questions, lol. But she says they're getting work done mostly.

[gardenmom5]

a lot of people are "losing it".

just because the teacher is losing it online class - doesn't mean the teacher loses it that way  in a B&M classroom during normal times. 

some districts are being better about cutting slack - knowing they can't treat this like normal school that is just done "online".  others are putting unrealistic expectations upon their teachers to learn technology, to teach the technology to do online school to their students, to set up online curriculum/classes etc - when they've never done it before.  all while having to quarantine themselves as well.

these aren't normal times.

[happi duck]

As a student and then as a classroom teacher I saw everything from great teachers to awful teachers.

[City Mouse]

I would give any teacher forced to move to online teaching a lot of grace right now. There is a whole lot more to good virtual teaching than lecturing in a google meet or Zoom room, and most of these teachers have been given very little if any training, and I think too much is being expected of both teachers, students, and families. 
 

Also, I would take what any parent said with cautious consideration. I was once accused by a parent of “yelling” at students in an online lesson. Luckily, the entire session was recorded, so I was able to provide the recording to my administrator for review. In that parent’s view my being “stern” with a student was considered “yelling”.  I too “threatened” a student by telling him that if he continued xx behavior in our online class he would be removed from the session. 

[Shoeless]

I only know a handful of public schoolers, and none of them have complained that the teachers are losing it.  The complaints I am hearing are that the teachers have not given the students more work. The parents were expecting 6-8 hours of independent seat work for their early elementary kids, and are angry the teacher isn't providing that.  Lots of "Why was the school district not prepared for this?!"  Um, well, who exactly had a great pandemic-preparedness plan before last March, lol?!  

Anyway, I was trying to explain to one of the parents that a) little kids do not have that kind of attention span to work alone and b) the kids really do not just sit in school for 6-8 hours a day, doing seat work, and the parent wouldn't hear it. 

I feel bad for the teachers, but they really can't "lose it" at the students. The students are kids and this isn't their burden to bear. 

  

 

[katilac]

I think if a 'bunch' of people were seeing teachers yelling it and losing it in class, somebody would be recording it. Probably one of the kids, lol. 

[historically accurate]

I haven't heard anything like that. My friends with kids in school all seem amazed at how well the teachers are handling moving to all online. 

[Garga]

I haven’t heard of yelling, but I’ve heard that while some schools are giving the kids lots of work and support, others are barely responding to the kids and giving them only a few worksheets to complete a day.  

 

 

 

 

[regentrude]

23 minutes ago, txk said:

On the college level, my ds is here doing his classes online.  Sometimes he asks the professors how things are going with the whole online format, which is new to most of them.  I was surprised to learn that the whole thing is actually MORE work for the professors and very stressful for them, too.  And then there are the new problems like the prof's can't tell when the kids are cheating, etc.  

Another professor that my dc have known for years actually said that the university has given her double (more??  don't remember) the work with these online classes, and cut her pay by over 20%.  She is planning to resign after this semester.

Overall, it sounds like it's stressful for everyone involved - teachers, professors, students, and parents (of K-12).  And prof's who have never taught online - and never WANTED to teach online - are the most stressed out because they had to figure it all out very fast and really dislike teaching online.  

Which, of course, does NOT excuse yelling at students ...   

But I was actually thinking that it would be LESS work for the prof's until ds asked several of his prof's how it was going.  And yesterday when he asked one prof, the prof said, "Let me turn off my (recording thing) before I answer that question."  lol  And then he spent 15 minutes telling ds all about it. 

May I ask why you thought it would be less work?

Recording and editing video is about a factor of ten; 10 hours of work for 1 hour of edited and cut footage. Instead of one single exam for my class that I can give proctored to 450 students, I have to create a question banks with enough different questions that students can receive randomized exams for an unproctored exam on the computer. (For a high stakes end of semester quiz with a high cheating potential, I am currently generating 15 versions for each question instead of a single one). Instead of discussing a worksheet in class by going from group to group, you have to prepare the worksheet and discussion questions online and a quiz where they can put in their answers to receive the points. Answering questions by email takes longer than in person. You can't scribble a few lines of equations on a blackboard; you have to write it out, scan it, send it back.

Every.single.thing takes longer.  

Edited April 29, 2020 by regentrude

[theelfqueen]

My kid's instructors are from his television production program, I think they have an advantage at this lol ....

plus I think they should just assign someone their next lesson to edit/produce/prep lol (they haven't done this but I think I would if I were them).  

[regentrude]

6 minutes ago, txk said:

Another interesting thing one professor told ds.  Prof said he could usually tell when a student wasn't understanding something by watching their eyes/faces, and at that point he would adjust his explanations and such.  Prof said he couldn't do that with online teaching.  Kind of sad.  And I actually do understand that kind of teaching because that's what I used to do with my own kids in hs'ing.  

Well of course. Eye contact and body language are very important for gauging students' understanding. Also, the barrier to asking a quick question is so much lower in a live class, as opposed to having to send the professor an email. As an instructor, you have no idea how students are doing if class is asynchronous and all they do is submit assignments online (and you don't know whether it's their own work or they copied.) It makes teaching a soulless heap of computer work. After all these years and thousands of students, I have enough experience to know which concepts my students typically struggle with, but I can't imagine teaching a course for the first or second time and flying blind without student feedback.

Edited April 29, 2020 by regentrude

[LMD]

1 hour ago, StellaM said:

It is at least double the work to teach online, if you weren't already set up to do so.

 

That's what I'm hearing from teachers too.

The elementary students I know are mostly playing Minecraft 😄 (I know because they keep nagging my kids to play- who are trying to do schoolwork)

[Tree Frog]

3 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

some districts are being better about cutting slack - knowing they can't treat this like normal school that is just done "online".  others are putting unrealistic expectations upon their teachers to learn technology, to teach the technology to do online school to their students, to set up online curriculum/classes etc - when they've never done it before.  all while having to quarantine themselves as well.

Add in that those same teachers whose own kids at home who also want attention or need help and needing to keep her kids quiet because her husband's work must be done. Some of what's required of these teachers is horrible. 

[Hilltopmom]

The only kids I’m losing it with are my own. They are getting the short end of the stick while I’m trying to teach my 4th grade students online and keep them busy and quiet so my husband can be on his 900th conference call of the day.

I homeschooled the older kids- that’s much easier than making my kid do the work that came home from public school. My high schooler had way too much work a day until this week- after many complaints (from me and I’m sure many other parents), a new more manageable workload was sent out. My little kids I’m mostly trying to get them to play together nicely And not worry much about academics- but with one on the spectrum and one very very active- it’s tough.

My kids teachers & therapists and the other teachers I work with have been nothing short of amazing during all of this.

Eta- some days are actually amazing at home & make me miss our homeschooling days. Others, not so much. It has been nice to get outside so much lately and have more family time.

Edited April 29, 2020 by Hilltopmom

[1shortmomto4]

My dd teaches 2nd grade and she's actually more disappointed that she has only been allowed to give 1 hour on 1 day per week - nothing more.  It took a month or more for the county to even allow that much interaction.  The first day the kids all came on line 23 out of 26 was great for both the kids and her.  They all felt like they had a purpose - even if they aren't allowed to teach anything new.  The material must be a review of any already covered topic.  She had to mute some mics a few times but it went great.  Her biggest complaint - parents were doing the work for the kids - not the student.  And you could see them doing it!  I guess when they make all work optional, as well as attending the online meeting, people aren't necessarily putting in much effort.  And sadly, the troublesome parent(s) before the closing are still the troublesome parent(s) during the closing.  One parent was demanding a retake of a bunch of "tests" that she had to rewrite and allow student to take - grades were NOT going to change.  She could see where the parent erased the kid's wrong answer and wrote in the correct one.  I can't imagine what will happen should they shut down again sometime in the fall.  My neighbor's grandchildren who live in the state but a different county have contact each day with their teacher and they text and meet online if they need help with any assignments - much different experience.  The grandchildren are enjoying the work and the connection.  Some areas are doing a great job and some, not so much.

Just a side note but they did tracked down 2 of the 3 students that weren't attending - they had been given laptops and internet to be sure they could interact but parents have chosen not to participate and the 3rd student is missing - the family home is empty.

[vonfirmath]

17 minutes ago, 1shortmomto4 said:

My dd teaches 2nd grade and she's actually more disappointed that she has only been allowed to give 1 hour on 1 day per week - nothing more.  It took a month or more for the county to even allow that much interaction.  The first day the kids all came on line 23 out of 26 was great for both the kids and her.  They all felt like they had a purpose - even if they aren't allowed to teach anything new.  The material must be a review of any already covered topic.  She had to mute some mics a few times but it went great.  Her biggest complaint - parents were doing the work for the kids - not the student.  And you could see them doing it!  I guess when they make all work optional, as well as attending the online meeting, people aren't necessarily putting in much effort.  And sadly, the troublesome parent(s) before the closing are still the troublesome parent(s) during the closing.  One parent was demanding a retake of a bunch of "tests" that she had to rewrite and allow student to take - grades were NOT going to change.  She could see where the parent erased the kid's wrong answer and wrote in the correct one.  I can't imagine what will happen should they shut down again sometime in the fall.  My neighbor's grandchildren who live in the state but a different county have contact each day with their teacher and they text and meet online if they need help with any assignments - much different experience.  The grandchildren are enjoying the work and the connection.  Some areas are doing a great job and some, not so much.

Just a side note but they did tracked down 2 of the 3 students that weren't attending - they had been given laptops and internet to be sure they could interact but parents have chosen not to participate and the 3rd student is missing - the family home is empty.

 

That is really great participation! In my daughter's 3rd grade Zooms they only get about 9 kids online.

I don't know about other houses but I know I'm not doing my kids' work. I don't even get to grade it like I'd prefer to because that is when I notice that they didn't get the point of the assignment because it is almost all being checked in directly to google classroom.

[Sneezyone]

We haven’t had net teacher problems either. DS isn’t really receiving any instruction so he’s taking two Outschool classes. DD is basically doing independent study for math and history. Her teachers are checking in and holding office hours weekly but there are no grades. Even her art and music teachers have given some assignments for them to work on. If anything, some of the staff have gotten a little too casual/chummy, inviting the students to watch them cook/interact with their families on FB live, all night chat sessions with cheer coaches, it’s been odd.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Sneezyone

[pitterpatter]

Probably not the best place for this, but has there been discussion regarding the fairness of students who don't have to do much/any schooling right now and those who have more than they can handle? Is every student going to be passed onto the next grade regardless of whether they are keeping up with their studies? (This probably applies primarily to public elementary schools. But, I know our middle schoolers aren't having to do anything either. And, that doesn't seem acceptable to me.)

[hippiemamato3]

I have seen only immense positivity and dedication from the PS teachers in our lives. I don't believe any child or teen should be held back a year for the coronavirus situation. There will be time next year for everyone to catch up.

[Hilltopmom]

And now the public school teachers are being told to expect many cuts to staff for next year due to state budget shortages. Got an email this morning from our super giving a heads up to teachers lowest on the seniority list.

[Janeway]

8 hours ago, 1shortmomto4 said:

My dd teaches 2nd grade and she's actually more disappointed that she has only been allowed to give 1 hour on 1 day per week - nothing more.  It took a month or more for the county to even allow that much interaction.  The first day the kids all came on line 23 out of 26 was great for both the kids and her.  They all felt like they had a purpose - even if they aren't allowed to teach anything new.  The material must be a review of any already covered topic.  She had to mute some mics a few times but it went great.  Her biggest complaint - parents were doing the work for the kids - not the student.  And you could see them doing it!  I guess when they make all work optional, as well as attending the online meeting, people aren't necessarily putting in much effort.  And sadly, the troublesome parent(s) before the closing are still the troublesome parent(s) during the closing.  One parent was demanding a retake of a bunch of "tests" that she had to rewrite and allow student to take - grades were NOT going to change.  She could see where the parent erased the kid's wrong answer and wrote in the correct one.  I can't imagine what will happen should they shut down again sometime in the fall.  My neighbor's grandchildren who live in the state but a different county have contact each day with their teacher and they text and meet online if they need help with any assignments - much different experience.  The grandchildren are enjoying the work and the connection.  Some areas are doing a great job and some, not so much.

Just a side note but they did tracked down 2 of the 3 students that weren't attending - they had been given laptops and internet to be sure they could interact but parents have chosen not to participate and the 3rd student is missing - the family home is empty.

Missing??? Is someone sick or did they lose their job? That sounds so worrisome!!!

[Pippen]

2 hours ago, hippiemamato3 said:

I have seen only immense positivity and dedication from the PS teachers in our lives. I don't believe any child or teen should be held back a year for the coronavirus situation. There will be time next year for everyone to catch up.

When it all hit mid-March I told my teaching team to take a deep breath because in reality we only had five weeks of actual learning left. Spring break would have reduced our schedule by a week, testing by another.  We just have three weeks in May and honestly not much learning happens then. 

Our district is still thinking through plans, but any needed remediation will happen next year. The area where it's going to make the most difference is for high school seniors that haven't met the graduation requirements. My guess is oftentimes those would have been kids who were already at risk of not graduating going into this. 

[katilac]

6 hours ago, pitterpatter said:

Probably not the best place for this, but has there been discussion regarding the fairness of students who don't have to do much/any schooling right now and those who have more than they can handle? Is every student going to be passed onto the next grade regardless of whether they are keeping up with their studies? (This probably applies primarily to public elementary schools. But, I know our middle schoolers aren't having to do anything either. And, that doesn't seem acceptable to me.)

I think these are extraordinary times, and a wide variance in how well schools make the leap to online learning is to be expected. I don't know what could possibly be done about this semester at this point. Remember, students have not-so-great semesters at various times, for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, it's as banal as teacher leaving unexpectedly and the year gets finished out with a parade of substitutes. Or they have new and horrendous math curriculum, or they're sick a lot and barely scrape by, whatever. It's just not unknown for entire groups of kids to have a bad semester. They get promoted anyway, and that's what I 100% expect to happen now (even at the high school level). It's by no means ideal, but neither is failing hordes of students for reasons beyond their control. 

1 hour ago, Janeway said:

Missing??? Is someone sick or did they lose their job? That sounds so worrisome!!!

A lot of families fail to notify the school when they move, even at the best of times. 

[Sneezyone]

4 hours ago, StellaM said:

 

Yeah, no to this.

Students don't belong in the home lives of their teachers, even virtually.  

All night chat sessions?!

Boundaries exist in schools for a reason, and they don't disappear just because school's gone online.

I'd be just as ??? at this as at the yelling teacher.

 

 

It was supposed to be a one hour meet and greet/bonding session with all of the prospective team members for fall (lots of magical thinking going on about the fall season but that’s for another day) and it turned into...well...no one’s got anything better to do so...yeah. It was inappropriate. Most of the girls peeled off at some point but others stayed and learned more than necessary. The chorus teacher also acts like one of the  kids with these live-streamed dinner cooking sessions. It’s cray and DD just ignores it. I’m not sure how much guidance they’re getting. They need more.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Sneezyone

[vonfirmath]

4 hours ago, katilac said:

I think these are extraordinary times, and a wide variance in how well schools make the leap to online learning is to be expected. I don't know what could possibly be done about this semester at this point. Remember, students have not-so-great semesters at various times, for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, it's as banal as teacher leaving unexpectedly and the year gets finished out with a parade of substitutes. 

 

This is pretty much what my daughter's spring this year had already turned into. Her teacher was out sick on February 13 and never came back -- but they didn't SAY he wasn't coming back. She just had a string of substitutes (and one day the class was split up into other classes because there was no sub at all!).  We got no graded papers back (and thus no opportunity to figure out WHY her history grade plummeted from a A to a C in the second half of the grading period)  And then of course they were out altogether the 4th grading period.

[pitterpatter]

Quoting myself. This was in the New York Times Morning Briefing today.

"Should the virus mean straight A’s for everyone? High schools are debating whether to issue grades."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/us/coronavirus-high-school-grades.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200430&instance_id=18091&nl=morning-briefing&regi_id=120389169&section=topNews&segment_id=26273&te=1&user_id=b30bedc170ba51e19a03792505cfcd89

19 hours ago, pitterpatter said:

Probably not the best place for this, but has there been discussion regarding the fairness of students who don't have to do much/any schooling right now and those who have more than they can handle? Is every student going to be passed onto the next grade regardless of whether they are keeping up with their studies? (This probably applies primarily to public elementary schools. But, I know our middle schoolers aren't having to do anything either. And, that doesn't seem acceptable to me.)

 

[Xahm]

16 hours ago, Pippen said:

When it all hit mid-March I told my teaching team to take a deep breath because in reality we only had five weeks of actual learning left. Spring break would have reduced our schedule by a week, testing by another.  We just have three weeks in May and honestly not much learning happens then. 

Our district is still thinking through plans, but any needed remediation will happen next year. The area where it's going to make the most difference is for high school seniors that haven't met the graduation requirements. My guess is oftentimes those would have been kids who were already at risk of not graduating going into this. 

Some people around here have been passing around "don't worry, they only lost two weeks of instructional time." Schools here got out mid-March as well, and the way they figured, there were only two weeks of learning left before test prep was to be in full force, then testing, then after testing haze. Of all the things that maybe this will affect long-term, I'm hoping that someone noticed that and said, "hey, that's unacceptable."

[DawnM]

All work is optional and ungraded in our district and I think all surrounding districts.   High schoolers can opt to take the grade they were getting in March when we stopped going to school, or get a "pass/fail" report.

The only grading is supposed to be for students failing who want to get their grades up.

[Hilltopmom]

We did review material  for 3 weeks when we first got out (we had no missed days- we started remote learning immediately), but are now doing new material grades preK-12 in all of our local districts. Grades for this quarter will be Pass/ Incomplete. We go until the end of June but it is true that we were close to being done teaching our required standards because state testing would’ve been in the spring. Material is not optional.

We had 3 chapters left of math to cover, for example. Now we have more time to get through the material which is nice since remote learning is much more difficult. In the fall we will have to reteach, which we always do anyways.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Hilltopmom

[Storygirl]

I've been pleased with the way our public school district has been handling instruction. Teachers are still teaching new material, so it's not just review. Because the district does not want parents and students to be stressed, there is a lot of leeway about when assignments are due, and teachers post all assignments for the week on Mondays, so that students can pace out their work in a way that works for them. I do have to help my son with an IEP divide up his work into daily segments, which usually his intervention teachers would help with. Those teachers are available for questions and have done some general "how are you doing" reaching out, but I am having to provide the support that they normally would be doing at school (which is okay for us, but I'm sure is hard for many families). This week DS16 has had much less assigned, because teachers are giving time for other students to get caught up. DS is caught up already, because I have kept him on track.

My kids' assignments are still graded. But the policy is that no grades will drop below what they were before remote lessons began. So if a student had a B in March and gets D's on their remote learning work, they will retain their B.

I'm certain that this policy made some students decide to stop working and turning in assignments. But it ensures that no one will be penalized for having to switch to a learning style that is a poor fit for them, or for having less help from parents than other students (many parents are trying to work and help their kids at the same time), or for having technology troubles.

DD18 attends a different private school. She is doing all of her work without any input from me (my younger kids need more guidance). She says that she feels that her teachers are giving her a LOT of work. But she seems to be taking plenty of breaks, talking with her friends online, and is hanging out with the family in the evenings, so I think it is likely the regular amount of work that she would be doing if she were in the school building.

We've been happy with all of our teachers. Some are doing less, and some are doing more, as far as connecting with the students. But none of the teachers have been "losing it" as far as we can tell. I'm sure it's been stressful for them all.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I've only witnessed positive teacher behavior with my own kids. They have been flexible and understanding. The elementary teacher has organized optional class meetings twice a week and she just grins the whole time because she gets to see her kids. I also have teachers in my family and I know they are working hard to keep standards high while understanding that this is a difficult situation for everyone. And they are sad that they cannot see the kids in person on a daily basis. 

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, xahm said:

Some people around here have been passing around "don't worry, they only lost two weeks of instructional time." Schools here got out mid-March as well, and the way they figured, there were only two weeks of learning left before test prep was to be in full force, then testing, then after testing haze. Of all the things that maybe this will affect long-term, I'm hoping that someone noticed that and said, "hey, that's unacceptable."

Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Schools here aren’t out until mid-June and students were out in Mid-March. PLUS we have block scheduling for high schools. There’s a lot of ground to cover. DDs academic class teachers have stepped up in a big way. Her electives, not so much.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

All work is optional and ungraded in our district and I think all surrounding districts.   High schoolers can opt to take the grade they were getting in March when we stopped going to school, or get a "pass/fail" report.

The only grading is supposed to be for students failing who want to get their grades up.

This is true for grades in our area but not for credit at the HS course level. No participation, no grade/pass AND no credit.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, Hilltopmom said:

We did review material  for 3 weeks when we first got out (we had no missed days- we started remote learning immediately), but are now doing new material grades preK-12 in all of our local districts. Grades for this quarter will be Pass/ Incomplete. We go until the end of June but it is true that we were close to being done teaching our required standards because state testing would’ve been in the spring. Material is not optional.

We had 3 chapters left of math to cover, for example. Now we have more time to get through the material which is nice since remote learning is much more difficult. In the fall we will have to reteach, which we always do anyways.

I like this too. I found an Outschool class that uses DSs existing school texts so he’s basically getting in an entire extra semester of math in by June. His class only had three chapters left too and they are all reviewed at the beginning of book 2 (of three) anyway. So, yeah, he won’t be harmed by this. His Outschool teacher also teaches book 3 so, presumably, he will easily get an A in Algebra or a B in geometry by 8th.

[Pippen]

2 hours ago, xahm said:

Some people around here have been passing around "don't worry, they only lost two weeks of instructional time." Schools here got out mid-March as well, and the way they figured, there were only two weeks of learning left before test prep was to be in full force, then testing, then after testing haze. Of all the things that maybe this will affect long-term, I'm hoping that someone noticed that and said, "hey, that's unacceptable."

We're a standards-based school and often May is used for a final project and/or reassessment opportunities. I always cycle through all of my skills so students get a final opportunity to demonstrate their growth in a skill. It's valuable, but I'll be the first to say it's not the same as being deep into content. 

 

[Xahm]

1 hour ago, Sneezyone said:

Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Schools here aren’t out until mid-June and students were out in Mid-March. PLUS we have block scheduling for high schools. There’s a lot of ground to cover. DDs academic class teachers have stepped up in a big way. Her electives, not so much.

To be fair, schools here end in mid May. The people saying this, who included teachers, were perhaps trying to paint things in as rosy a fashion as possible to reduce stress, but it still seems crazy. 8 weeks missed should not be just 2 weeks of instruction missed.

I've heard very few complaints about teachers, though. The technology has been frustrating, but schools are working on that.

[Pippen]

1 hour ago, Storygirl said:

I've been pleased with the way our public school district has been handling instruction. Teachers are still teaching new material, so it's not just review. Because the district does not want parents and students to be stressed, there is a lot of leeway about when assignments are due, and teachers post all assignments for the week on Mondays, so that students can pace out their work in a way that works for them. I do have to help my son with an IEP divide up his work into daily segments, which usually his intervention teachers would help with. Those teachers are available for questions and have done some general "how are you doing" reaching out, but I am having to provide the support that they normally would be doing at school (which is okay for us, but I'm sure is hard for many families). This week DS16 has had much less assigned, because teachers are giving time for other students to get caught up. DS is caught up already, because I have kept him on track.

My kids' assignments are still graded. But the policy is that no grades will drop below what they were before remote lessons began. So if a student had a B in March and gets D's on their remote learning work, they will retain their B.

I'm certain that this policy made some students decide to stop working and turning in assignments. But it ensures that no one will be penalized for having to switch to a learning style that is a poor fit for them, or for having less help from parents than other students (many parents are trying to work and help their kids at the same time), or for having technology troubles.

DD18 attends a different private school. She is doing all of her work without any input from me (my younger kids need more guidance). She says that she feels that her teachers are giving her a LOT of work. But she seems to be taking plenty of breaks, talking with her friends online, and is hanging out with the family in the evenings, so I think it is likely the regular amount of work that she would be doing if she were in the school building.

We've been happy with all of our teachers. Some are doing less, and some are doing more, as far as connecting with the students. But none of the teachers have been "losing it" as far as we can tell. I'm sure it's been stressful for them all.

This is the same policy our district is using. The guidance that assessment to not be punitive comes from the state level. 

There is just no winning in this scenario. We just need to do the best we can to get through it, and then evaluate how we can do it better if there is a next time. Our staff was asked to submit feedback this week already. I'm sure parents and students will be surveyed by the school. There are things that I would have done differently if I had known then what I know now. I certainly will be asking my students for feedback specific to my class. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sneezyone]

10 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

 

This is how I am as a teacher.  There's a district near me that has announced "no new content", and people have taken that to mean "no instruction" or "no learning", but in my experience as a teacher, a lot of skills need to be revisited over and over again.  For example, our Freshmen English classes learn to organize paragraphs, to support arguments with evidence, and to cite their sources.   Through the year, they write a number of essays with a lot of handholding.  At the end of the year, they put those skills together to write a paper that's a little longer, and a little less scaffolded.  The novel that they write about is new, but the standards aren't, they're just coming back to revisit them at a higher level, with more independence.  Other subjects do something similar.  

I think that providing instruction, and experiences, without introducing new content, or new standards, is a very appropriate compromise.  There are plenty of things that a teacher can do that stretch and grow students' skills, and provide differentiation, without setting up a situation where kids who weren't able to access remote learning for whatever reason don't walk back into a classroom that assumes they got an introduction to something brand new.  

I’m not OK with this as a compromise for *this* area. As a PP said, we moved here for the content in multiple domains. No new content for those (85%+ here) who have have mastered the learning objectives by the end of April is a big loss. In mid-May, ten district typically invites students on the cusp to receive remedial/test-prep support but most kids don’t need it. This time represents a big loss for most kids. That said, it the parents are smart, and most are, they will do what I did and find online alternatives to keep making progress. DS plate HOURS of video games a day but his education is still on track.

Edited April 30, 2020 by Sneezyone