Why are parents so fixated on reopening schools in-person?
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Anonymous
This is exactly how I felt in the spring. Now things are actually fine. MCPS. |
Anonymous
+1 The problem with these arguments that DL provides an adequate education *as long as parents fill in all the gaps* is that if the job of teaching, especially at an elementary level, can be done over Zoom from your home while providing childcare to your own kids, then it probably shouldn't pay very much. I know teachers are working a lot. The problem is that 90% of what they are doing isn't educating kids. They are troubleshooting technology, they are performing administrative tasks that administration to make unrealistic claims about attendance and participation. Even the actual instruction is so poor, not necessarily because the teachers are bad (though some of them are), but because none of them were trained to teach in this way and most do not have the skill set to do it effectively. I am happy to admit that as a parent, I am doing a subpar job of helping my kid learn via DL. I'm trying my best, but I'm not an educator, I find the technology clunky and frustrating, and I'm distracted much of the time due to my own job and the stress of having the whole family working and learning in our house for months on end. But at least I can admit that. I'm not a good teacher! I am a great parent but I don't know much about how to teach a small child how to read. I would love to have an actual professional educator do it instead. But DL has not offered that. So yeah, we should probably open schools, unless school districts can magically figure out how to make DL effective at teaching kids things like basic literacy. It's one or the other. |
Anonymous
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It's unbelievable to watch people in this thread claim they know better personally than the overwhelming number of educational and public health experts, scientists, and scientific researchers who believe school should be in person and have provided the analysis to support their positions.
Given how off their judgment is in the face of voluminous scientific analysis, I don't think we can trust their judgment. They are like anti-vaxxers who have "done their research." They probably don't understand how to even measure learning. |
Anonymous
+1 Spot on. The parents who tend to talk about how much their child is learning in DL are people who don't really understand education and confuse "quiet and not bothering me in front of a screen" with actual learning. |
Anonymous
Exactly. I have zero reason to trust WTU or their proxies at this point, including their assertions about what DCPS has or has not done. Given the recent flood in high-profile calls to return to school (including the reaction to NYC closing schools) I'm actually hopeful that the tide will turn. Not with the present spike, but maybe in the spring. One thing that might be powerful is for DCPS to convene a high profile expert panel for returning to school. |
Anonymous
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+1 to comparing the forever- DL folks to anti-vaxxers. They end every argument with some version of this:
https://images.app.goo.gl/UWQf57tpCPEYYveA8 |
Anonymous
Regardless of DL, many of us have spent a lot of time filling in the gaps in elementary school. The issue many parents don't notice the gaps as they leave education to the school/teacher and aren't aware of it. With DL they are more aware. We had to do all the basics from handwriting, spelling, grammar, math facts and more at home. And, this was before DL. The issue is the curriculum, not DL vs. in person. And, as a parent your responsibility is also education. Its also child care. We are in a pandemic in 2020. We are lucky we have the option to DL. Otherwise we'd all be homeschooling. |
Anonymous
Mine are learning a lot, probably just as much if not more in school. They are doing a heavy focus on writing which is fantastic. My kids are camera on, fed and go to the bathroom. They are one of the few who actually engage with the teacher and participate. They attend all optional sessions as well except when told not to as they have demonstrated knowledge of the material. We make sure all work is done, we make sure if there were errors or low grades and there is an option to redo that they redo and we work with them on the redo. In person, you really don't get that much more but as parents we don't see what's going on. I would like more than 2 hours a week per class and more homework. The math homework is minimal and practice is important. Mine are also in several social clubs at school after school. We have always worked with our kids. We taught them to read. We taught the math facts, handwriting, typing and much more. |
Anonymous
| I love the parents who are angry because they think they are doing the teacher’s job. Teachers do YOUR job all day long and have for eternity. I blow noses, clean up bodily fluids, hold them when they cry, talk to them about problems at home, buy coats and sneakers for kids who don’t have appropriate clothing, and feed them. Teachers don’t get to complain about anything or people scream that it’s all “for the kids” which they weaponize against us to get us to work unpaid overtime, spend our own money on classroom supplies, and take on additional roles at work. Now it’s parents’ turn. You shouldn’t mind going above and beyond for your child right now. It’s all for them, right? Or do you just not care about your kids? Because that’s what the public, administration, and everyone else says to us when we say we are struggling. |
Anonymous
I have always worked very closely with my kids and that is why I understand how poor DL is. I think people who praise DL generally don't have a good handle on education. |
Anonymous
| The only difference between DL and in-person school for my kids is little student to student interaction. One misses it and the other one is happy that he doesn't have to spend time doing forced group/pair projects. They still get the same education. |
Anonymous
Yes, it is your job to blow noses (if you teach young children), comfort your children and talk to them about problems at home. It is also not my job to spend money on classroom supplies but I donate to the schools all the time without complaining. I donate shoes and coats to the poor. That is also not my job. I take pleasure in doing things to help others. I do go above and beyond for my children always which is why I am doing my damnest to get schools to reopen. I cannot do a teacher's job at home because I am an ICU physician. Instead I pay for my first grader to go to a daycare virtual camp so that day care supervisors can watch him press the mute button on his teachers. I pay for my kindergartner to repeat pre school at daycare so he can get an in person education and learn to read which he was having difficulty learning virtually. I have so been tempted to quit my job and teach my children at home and posts like this make me even more tempted. But I will continue to do my job and pay for others do to your job while you complain about having to hold a child when they cry. |
Anonymous
I mean, now your workload is doubled if you have to oversee DL in addition to supplementing. So I'm not sure your argument holds water. And no, we are not lucky to have the "option to DL." It's actually a curse. If there were no internet, the kids would be back in school. |
Anonymous
 So in your world, you think parents (ie moms) should accompany kids into the classroom to blow their noses?
You're struggling due to your own choices and the choices of your union. |
Anonymous
No, we struggle because we get paid very little relative to other professionals with similar levels of education and parents don’t appreciate anything that we do. There are threads every day talking about how teachers are trying to “destroy a generation of children”, how you think education degrees (doctorates, masters) in education are “a joke”, how teachers are “lazy and stupid” and many other creative insults. You don’t appreciate that people don’t HAVE to do these things for your children and you’re angry when suddenly you don’t have us supporting you. Parents regularly complain that teachers should somehow magically help their child organize materials at home and motivate them to participate in remote learning, without any behavioral support or environmental management at home. How is that different from suggesting I should blow your child’s nose? It actually isn’t my job. If your child is old enough to go to school, it is your job as a parent to make sure they are independent enough to perform self care tasks on their own. It’s very clear that parents do not, as I currently don’t have a single student who can tie their own shoes or buckle their own belts. Maybe don’t dress them in clothes you haven’t taught them to manage independently? Especially during the pandemic, when I am forced to physically assist with pulling sweatshirts over heads and tying laces all day when we are supposed to be distancing. It’s not just teachers who “don’t do their jobs”. |