Virtual Learning - Why Not MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

For five days, DCUM claimed it was going to be a nothing burger. Why should he listen to y’all now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

For five days, DCUM claimed it was going to be a nothing burger. Why should he listen to y’all now?

There were dozens of threads on DCUM talking about how to prepare, what to do in case of power outages, dissecting past responses to storms by Dc area authorities and even talking about what groceries to buy and which stores still had shovels and de-icing agent.

That you could make a conclusion that “DCUM says” that is so unsupported by evidence about a forum with thousands of posters who don’t agree on anything says a lot about the quality of your own thought.

I hope you’re not on the McPS payroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

For five days, DCUM claimed it was going to be a nothing burger. Why should he listen to y’all now?

So did you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

+1. Such bad planning. There’s no reason teachers shouldn’t have been asked to prepare content in the eventuality of a big storm. My MS kid got two “if you have time” reading assignments today and I’m so grateful that teachers are reaching out so the kids don’t fall ridiculously behind after a week without school.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Sooo threads. Don’t you have work to do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did the teacher's union vote against it? I thought they needed time to switch to virtual.

The county needed to develop a plan and release it for public comment. They failed to do so.

They didn't so much fail to do so as decide not to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

For five days, DCUM claimed it was going to be a nothing burger. Why should he listen to y’all now?

There were dozens of threads on DCUM talking about how to prepare, what to do in case of power outages, dissecting past responses to storms by Dc area authorities and even talking about what groceries to buy and which stores still had shovels and de-icing agent.

That you could make a conclusion that “DCUM says” that is so unsupported by evidence about a forum with thousands of posters who don’t agree on anything says a lot about the quality of your own thought.

I hope you’re not on the McPS payroll.

+1. I didn’t get the impression from DCUM that the storm was going to be a nothing burger, and if Taylor and his team read actual news sources like the Washington Post, they would have seen the storm projections which predicted that this was going to be a big one.

Seems like the PP is making their own narrative to justify laziness and lack of planning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always liked playing outside on snow days. I'm glad my kids get to do the same.

And that's great for the younger kids, but high schoolers really need the instructional time and a lot of have AP exams in May.

Okay, but high schoolers are four years out of the thirteen years MCPS covers. Public education is fundamentally about what’s good for the majority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

For five days, DCUM claimed it was going to be a nothing burger. Why should he listen to y’all now?

There were dozens of threads on DCUM talking about how to prepare, what to do in case of power outages, dissecting past responses to storms by Dc area authorities and even talking about what groceries to buy and which stores still had shovels and de-icing agent.

That you could make a conclusion that “DCUM says” that is so unsupported by evidence about a forum with thousands of posters who don’t agree on anything says a lot about the quality of your own thought.

I hope you’re not on the McPS payroll.

Your kids attend McPublic Schools What are they are learning (How long to drop the fries? What to say when a customer complains that the ice cream machine is broken?) while you are reading every thread on this site?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because Taylor’s priority is making stupid snow day videos and not making sure his central office actually plans well so kids can get 180 days of instructional time or take home their Chromebooks in a major storm that was foreseen a week ahead of time.

For five days, DCUM claimed it was going to be a nothing burger. Why should he listen to y’all now?

There were dozens of threads on DCUM talking about how to prepare, what to do in case of power outages, dissecting past responses to storms by Dc area authorities and even talking about what groceries to buy and which stores still had shovels and de-icing agent.

That you could make a conclusion that “DCUM says” that is so unsupported by evidence about a forum with thousands of posters who don’t agree on anything says a lot about the quality of your own thought.

I hope you’re not on the McPS payroll.

Your kids attend McPublic Schools What are they are learning (How long to drop the fries? What to say when a customer complains that the ice cream machine is broken?) while you are reading every thread on this site?

Go step on a Lego. My kids have excellent teachers at MCPS and are learning a lot on the days they are in school, no thanks to the chaotic MCPS central offices whose planning seems like it’s done by weakly performing 6th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before someone chimes in saying that MCPS doesn't have 1:1 Chromebooks, I just want to clarify that we don't have 1:1 Chromebooks in Anne Arundel county either. Students without Chromebooks are expected to use their own devices. In lieu of technology, students are given packets to fill out. It's perfectly doable, but MCPS is against it, using the "it's not equitable" excuse.

Virtual learning is not ideal, but it certainly has the potential to be more meaningful than a handful of 1/2 days tacked onto the year at the end of June, three weeks after seniors have left the building and most of the rest are at camp or on vacation.

In March 2020, my teaching cohort and I took turns watching each other’s classes so we could make the ten-day packets were told to prepare for students to take home. Around 1 PM, our admin told us to throw them away because something better was coming. It never came. We had to learn new software and make new plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always liked playing outside on snow days. I'm glad my kids get to do the same.

And that's great for the younger kids, but high schoolers really need the instructional time and a lot of have AP exams in May.

Okay, but high schoolers are four years out of the thirteen years MCPS covers. Public education is fundamentally about what’s good for the majority.

I don’t have high schoolers, and I don’t think this extended break is good. Also, it’s 20 degrees outside and I live near a major park with hills. Kids aren’t staying outdoors more that 2 hours because it’s freezing. They can do that and go to school and keep up with the rest of America who get 180 school days per year.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand all the pearl clutching for AP students missing a week of instructional time. If anyone in our school system should be able to manage it should be them. These are the kids that should be capable of independent study and research. There might not be graded assignments being given but I am sure your students have some sort of syllabus or course outline that lets them know what is covered on the AP test. They should be finding stuff to do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand all the pearl clutching for AP students missing a week of instructional time. If anyone in our school system should be able to manage it should be them. These are the kids that should be capable of independent study and research. There might not be graded assignments being given but I am sure your students have some sort of syllabus or course outline that lets them know what is covered on the AP test. They should be finding stuff to do

If teenage students should be “finding stuff to do and teaching themselves material they don’t know” on snow days why can’t MCPS require paid teaching professionals to post assignments for them? Why are students being held to a higher bar than paid staff?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand all the pearl clutching for AP students missing a week of instructional time. If anyone in our school system should be able to manage it should be them. These are the kids that should be capable of independent study and research. There might not be graded assignments being given but I am sure your students have some sort of syllabus or course outline that lets them know what is covered on the AP test. They should be finding stuff to do

You must not have ever taken an AP classes. Kids aren’t able to self-teach the complexities of AP physics. There is laboratory work involved in science class-kids don’t have labs in their house.

And yes, most students need actual instruction. Kids aren’t able to pick up a calculus textbook book and teach themselves anymore than they can dissect an AP literature assignment solo in their bedroom.