WWYD? No Physics teacher until "October" on 4x4 schedule

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a HS teacher (not at Wilson) but I think there are two courses of action I would take- first continuously contact administration, the superintendent, office of teaching and learning, your ombudsmen. Bring solutions to the table- my suggestion would be to have an administrator create a list of assignments for kids through AP Classroom. There are videos and assignments that can be given, but an admin needs to give kids access and set it up.

Second I would try to find a good online set of videos for my kid to watch from you tube if I couldn’t afford or find a tutor.

Third I would not have my kid take the AP exam in the spring if they don’t get a teacher within the next few weeks. It is a really difficult exam under normal circumstances.

Good luck!

+1 Contact the AP Coordinator at Wilson. S/he can give the code for AP Classroom and your kid can watch the videos there. The coordinator could also open most of the assignments.

Honestly, I would only focus on this if my kid were destined to be an engineer. Otherwise, I would move on and focus on the kid’s other AP classes.

To the PP suggesting watching another DCPS AP Physics teacher…. I don’t think that teacher exists.

There is a new long term sub teaching the AP Physics classes for the past 10 days. Kids had their first test on Friday and are supposedly on schedule to cover all the material in time. Still no word on when the real teacher will show up but this one is competent and the kids are learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sad thing is that this is a normal occurrence for DCPS. Deal regularly had teachers get stuck in the DCPS approval system for weeks. I agree that the delay is all the more painful with the 4x4 system, but I would not be surprised if every comprehensive HS in DC has some sort of staffing issue.

Please complain to downtown about the 4x4 at Wilson- parents, teachers, and the administration all hate it but they won’t change it without a lot of people weighing in.

Gladly - anyone in particular? It is a travesty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Wilson student is not a tenth grader yet, but there’s no way they could learn physics from a video produced by the College Board. And then be able to complete College Board assignments on their own? No.

If that would even be possible, there’d be no point in hiring actual teachers.

Also, I’m not sure how it would work for a student not focus on a course to which they are assigned. Okay with skipping the AP exam in any case. But presumably each student will get a grade? Based on what? Completion of rudderless on-line assignments?

You are doing that thing where someone offers a solution and you find a reason why it could never work for your kid. Email all parties in DCPS and your admin but recognize that AP Classroom is one of the best solutions at the moment.

If all you care about is a grade then I am sure your kid wi get an A because there is no one who knows a lick of physics in the school who will be grading the assignments. I am sure if will be on completion or they can do corrections or whatever. Guess what the admin REALLY doesn’t want to deal with? Not having a teacher and having kids get poor grades. Not gonna happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Wilson student is not a tenth grader yet, but there’s no way they could learn physics from a video produced by the College Board. And then be able to complete College Board assignments on their own? No.

If that would even be possible, there’d be no point in hiring actual teachers.

Also, I’m not sure how it would work for a student not focus on a course to which they are assigned. Okay with skipping the AP exam in any case. But presumably each student will get a grade? Based on what? Completion of rudderless on-line assignments?

You are doing that thing where someone offers a solution and you find a reason why it could never work for your kid. Email all parties in DCPS and your admin but recognize that AP Classroom is one of the best solutions at the moment.

If all you care about is a grade then I am sure your kid wi get an A because there is no one who knows a lick of physics in the school who will be grading the assignments. I am sure if will be on completion or they can do corrections or whatever. Guess what the admin REALLY doesn’t want to deal with? Not having a teacher and having kids get poor grades. Not gonna happen.

Um...do you know any of the Wilson teachers? Because that is patently untrue. Someone who knows quite a few licks of physics will be grading. Go take a walk outside. Beautiful day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Wilson student is not a tenth grader yet, but there’s no way they could learn physics from a video produced by the College Board. And then be able to complete College Board assignments on their own? No.

If that would even be possible, there’d be no point in hiring actual teachers.

Also, I’m not sure how it would work for a student not focus on a course to which they are assigned. Okay with skipping the AP exam in any case. But presumably each student will get a grade? Based on what? Completion of rudderless on-line assignments?

You are doing that thing where someone offers a solution and you find a reason why it could never work for your kid. Email all parties in DCPS and your admin but recognize that AP Classroom is one of the best solutions at the moment.

If all you care about is a grade then I am sure your kid wi get an A because there is no one who knows a lick of physics in the school who will be grading the assignments. I am sure if will be on completion or they can do corrections or whatever. Guess what the admin REALLY doesn’t want to deal with? Not having a teacher and having kids get poor grades. Not gonna happen.

“That thing” is honestly stating that my student doesn’t learn from on-line videos. Given eureka math curriculum, tried khan academy for math. Now shelling out hundreds/actually thousands of dollars for in-person tutoring. Didn’t have to look far to “find” a reason video lessons would not work for my student. And quite possibly for other students who can’t afford to shell out $$$.

And yes, grades count, for college, but also as a rough estimate as to what my student has learned. Which is important given my students career aspirations. And again, we could afford to throw money at this problem. But so unfair for others to have potential career paths blocked because of this situation.

Know for a fact that the head of the science department isn’t going to say “this situation is my responsibility, so I’m going to grade on a curve.” Simply does not care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a HS teacher (not at Wilson) but I think there are two courses of action I would take- first continuously contact administration, the superintendent, office of teaching and learning, your ombudsmen. Bring solutions to the table- my suggestion would be to have an administrator create a list of assignments for kids through AP Classroom. There are videos and assignments that can be given, but an admin needs to give kids access and set it up.

Second I would try to find a good online set of videos for my kid to watch from you tube if I couldn’t afford or find a tutor.

Third I would not have my kid take the AP exam in the spring if they don’t get a teacher within the next few weeks. It is a really difficult exam under normal circumstances.

Good luck!

+1 Contact the AP Coordinator at Wilson. S/he can give the code for AP Classroom and your kid can watch the videos there. The coordinator could also open most of the assignments.

Honestly, I would only focus on this if my kid were destined to be an engineer. Otherwise, I would move on and focus on the kid’s other AP classes.

To the PP suggesting watching another DCPS AP Physics teacher…. I don’t think that teacher exists.

There is a new long term sub teaching the AP Physics classes for the past 10 days. Kids had their first test on Friday and are supposedly on schedule to cover all the material in time. Still no word on when the real teacher will show up but this one is competent and the kids are learning.

I am the OP. My dd is not in AP. Her class is called “honors.” She still does not have a teacher. Apparently, they are down TWO physics teachers. She has a friend in the class referred to in the post above. According to her friend, the competent sub is a Wilson mom. My dd has not had any instruction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a HS teacher (not at Wilson) but I think there are two courses of action I would take- first continuously contact administration, the superintendent, office of teaching and learning, your ombudsmen. Bring solutions to the table- my suggestion would be to have an administrator create a list of assignments for kids through AP Classroom. There are videos and assignments that can be given, but an admin needs to give kids access and set it up.

Second I would try to find a good online set of videos for my kid to watch from you tube if I couldn’t afford or find a tutor.

Third I would not have my kid take the AP exam in the spring if they don’t get a teacher within the next few weeks. It is a really difficult exam under normal circumstances.

Good luck!

+1 Contact the AP Coordinator at Wilson. S/he can give the code for AP Classroom and your kid can watch the videos there. The coordinator could also open most of the assignments.

Honestly, I would only focus on this if my kid were destined to be an engineer. Otherwise, I would move on and focus on the kid’s other AP classes.

To the PP suggesting watching another DCPS AP Physics teacher…. I don’t think that teacher exists.

There is a new long term sub teaching the AP Physics classes for the past 10 days. Kids had their first test on Friday and are supposedly on schedule to cover all the material in time. Still no word on when the real teacher will show up but this one is competent and the kids are learning.

I am the OP. My dd is not in AP. Her class is called “honors.” She still does not have a teacher. Apparently, they are down TWO physics teachers. She has a friend in the class referred to in the post above. According to her friend, the competent sub is a Wilson mom. My dd has not had any instruction.

Is there an issue with the sub being a "Wilson mom"...would you describe a man as such??

[Anonymous]

I think one would describe a male parent as a “Wilson dad”.

And since the qualifier was “competent” (as in competent to teach AP physics) I wouldn’t see that descriptive as a burn. More like an example of a really smart member of the Wilson community stepping up.

Makes me even prouder to be a “Wilson mom”...aka an especially fierce breed of Tiger Mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one would describe a male parent as a “Wilson dad”.

And since the qualifier was “competent” (as in competent to teach AP physics) I wouldn’t see that descriptive as a burn. More like an example of a really smart member of the Wilson community stepping up.

Makes me even prouder to be a “Wilson mom”...aka an especially fierce breed of Tiger Mom.

True but I would have expected "Wilson parent" to be enough

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My Wilson student is not a tenth grader yet, but there’s no way they could learn physics from a video produced by the College Board. And then be able to complete College Board assignments on their own? No.

If that would even be possible, there’d be no point in hiring actual teachers.

Also, I’m not sure how it would work for a student not focus on a course to which they are assigned. Okay with skipping the AP exam in any case. But presumably each student will get a grade? Based on what? Completion of rudderless on-line assignments?

You are doing that thing where someone offers a solution and you find a reason why it could never work for your kid. Email all parties in DCPS and your admin but recognize that AP Classroom is one of the best solutions at the moment.

If all you care about is a grade then I am sure your kid wi get an A because there is no one who knows a lick of physics in the school who will be grading the assignments. I am sure if will be on completion or they can do corrections or whatever. Guess what the admin REALLY doesn’t want to deal with? Not having a teacher and having kids get poor grades. Not gonna happen.

Um...do you know any of the Wilson teachers? Because that is patently untrue. Someone who knows quite a few licks of physics will be grading. Go take a walk outside. Beautiful day.

What does walking outside have anything to do with this? And who is going to be grading another teacher’s full roster of kids? You think the other physics teacher or science department chair is going to grade an extra 75 papers for each assignment on top of all of their other work? If they agree to that they are wonderful people but it will burn them out really quickly. Many teachers won’t agree to that so admin ends up grading the work. And they don’t know physics. So calm down on thinking I was insulting the abilities of the science department. They shouldn’t have to pick up the slack for DCPS’ issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sad thing is that this is a normal occurrence for DCPS. Deal regularly had teachers get stuck in the DCPS approval system for weeks. I agree that the delay is all the more painful with the 4x4 system, but I would not be surprised if every comprehensive HS in DC has some sort of staffing issue.

Please complain to downtown about the 4x4 at Wilson- parents, teachers, and the administration all hate it but they won’t change it without a lot of people weighing in.

Gladly - anyone in particular? It is a travesty.

Everyone- councilmembers, Ferebee’s office, Mayor’s office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sad thing is that this is a normal occurrence for DCPS. Deal regularly had teachers get stuck in the DCPS approval system for weeks. I agree that the delay is all the more painful with the 4x4 system, but I would not be surprised if every comprehensive HS in DC has some sort of staffing issue.

Please complain to downtown about the 4x4 at Wilson- parents, teachers, and the administration all hate it but they won’t change it without a lot of people weighing in.

Gladly - anyone in particular? It is a travesty.

Everyone- councilmembers, Ferebee’s office, Mayor’s office.

Email [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the Wilson parent who stepped up to provide AP Physics instruction in the interim!!!! Clear example of a parent going above and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you to the Wilson parent who stepped up to provide AP Physics instruction in the interim!!!! Clear example of a parent going above and beyond.

+1 and DCPS/Wilson is twisting in the wind while the Visa status is getting worked out and this person is essentially volunteering - talk about going above and beyond and stepping up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you to the Wilson parent who stepped up to provide AP Physics instruction in the interim!!!! Clear example of a parent going above and beyond.

This is great but does the long term sub actually know physics? AP Physics requires knowledge of college level physics and calculus.
My suggestion would be to have the kids watch Khan academy and do their practice assessments. Khan Academy offers an AP level physics curriculum. It is not amazing and no substitute for a teacher but it is pretty good. Wilson could also split up the kids into the AP Physics 1 classes. Their is a lot of overlap in AP1 mechanics and AP C mechanics especially for the first several weeks