So, I have 2 kids trying to finish out the school year at home during the Covid lockdown. They are generally hard workers and stay pretty focused even without a lot of remote teacher engagement. But I have to say I am pretty disappointed with how their teachers have not stayed engaged with their schoolwork. One teacher does a couple of zoom meetings for 30 minutes every week to check in and barely looks at any work product they post. The other was so disengaged I had to contact the principal as she continued to ignore my very polite e-mail messages to ask her about her plan for the next 2 months.
They basically seem to be relying on apps and web sites to do their jobs for them. Every inquiry gets a new list of web sites and apps and I keep saying there is no virtual subtitute for a teacher. I know there are some constraints on what they can do - especially in a public school system - but some of them are clearly using this as an extended summer vacation while they are getting paid while the rest of us - at least most of us - have to continue to bust our asses. I have been so pissed off with it over the last week I am considering contacting the superintendent directly. I am not expecting 7 hours of class per day but some teachers have dropped off the face of the earth.
How are some of you handling the balance between home schooling and teacher engagement?
UPDATE (for the few who may care)
I - along with some neighbors - decided to send e-mails to our superintendent and school board yesterday morning requesting a higher level of teacher engagement and more structure and learning goals on a weekly basis so we could be more productive at home. I also added a couple of suggestions in this thread on virtual office hours and sharing lesson plans.
Apparently, we were not the only ones as I received a response within a few hours indicating that the school board had directed the superintendent to revamp the remote learning program - quickly. It wasn't working. In addition, teachers were not clear on expectations for time commitments or planning. While some teachers could be doing more regardless of the superintendent's direction, there was also a lack of leadership here. Glad I communicated with our school board rep as I was hesitant to do so. I will also add that we saw a noticeable up-tick in teacher communication and participation as of midday yesterday.
For parents in the same boat, don't hesitate to reach out to your teachers, admins, and school board reps during this time for help. I was a little hesitant to do so. To those teachers in this thread who could see past my frustration and provide helpful courses of action - thank you. To those teachers in this thread who spent more time defending their profession or surgically disassembling a couple of my poorly worded posts like Supreme Court lawyers - thank you to you, too.
That will conclude my participation in this thread. I will now return to deciding which state flags are the most attractive and why anyone would contemplate eating a Papa John's pizza without a gun pointed to their cranium.
They basically seem to be relying on apps and web sites to do their jobs for them. Every inquiry gets a new list of web sites and apps and I keep saying there is no virtual subtitute for a teacher. I know there are some constraints on what they can do - especially in a public school system - but some of them are clearly using this as an extended summer vacation while they are getting paid while the rest of us - at least most of us - have to continue to bust our asses. I have been so pissed off with it over the last week I am considering contacting the superintendent directly. I am not expecting 7 hours of class per day but some teachers have dropped off the face of the earth.
How are some of you handling the balance between home schooling and teacher engagement?
UPDATE (for the few who may care)
I - along with some neighbors - decided to send e-mails to our superintendent and school board yesterday morning requesting a higher level of teacher engagement and more structure and learning goals on a weekly basis so we could be more productive at home. I also added a couple of suggestions in this thread on virtual office hours and sharing lesson plans.
Apparently, we were not the only ones as I received a response within a few hours indicating that the school board had directed the superintendent to revamp the remote learning program - quickly. It wasn't working. In addition, teachers were not clear on expectations for time commitments or planning. While some teachers could be doing more regardless of the superintendent's direction, there was also a lack of leadership here. Glad I communicated with our school board rep as I was hesitant to do so. I will also add that we saw a noticeable up-tick in teacher communication and participation as of midday yesterday.
For parents in the same boat, don't hesitate to reach out to your teachers, admins, and school board reps during this time for help. I was a little hesitant to do so. To those teachers in this thread who could see past my frustration and provide helpful courses of action - thank you. To those teachers in this thread who spent more time defending their profession or surgically disassembling a couple of my poorly worded posts like Supreme Court lawyers - thank you to you, too.
That will conclude my participation in this thread. I will now return to deciding which state flags are the most attractive and why anyone would contemplate eating a Papa John's pizza without a gun pointed to their cranium.
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