How is first day going for DCPS kids?

[Anonymous]

First day of K consisted of 30 min morning meeting, 15 minute small group meeting, and 10 minutes 1:1 with teacher.

The teacher's voice was cutting in and out so DC kept getting frustrated, though at least did want to participate (we have spotless broadband and no one else was on it, so it wasn't on our end). DC is very excited about being in K and is very bright. Teacher is trying. I just hope it gets better.

[Anonymous]

Great morning for my 5th grader with very little parental support needed. Live instruction is over for the day though so we'll see how the self-directed afternoon goes...

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader already cried. 5th grader doing ok but apparently needs totally different browser for plug ins? I’ve also already cried. Ready to risk Covid and have kids go back in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5th grader- so far, so good. We started off on the wrong foot by logging into teams when in fact we needed to go to Canvas instead. (And, despite this being a DCPS device, it says that both Chrome and Firefox are not supported browsers.)

My DC has been engaged for the most part. Now on lunch break.

We are having a no video game policy until after school. Do any other parents have similar bans on tech outside of school during the school day?

Yes, absolutely. We weren’t strict in the spring and it was our downfall!

[Anonymous]

6th and 8th grader had a nice morning. Complained it was boring... just like in-person first day! I may be jumping the gun but I will claim it was a successful day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5th grader- so far, so good. We started off on the wrong foot by logging into teams when in fact we needed to go to Canvas instead. (And, despite this being a DCPS device, it says that both Chrome and Firefox are not supported browsers.)

My DC has been engaged for the most part. Now on lunch break.

We are having a no video game policy until after school. Do any other parents have similar bans on tech outside of school during the school day?

Yes, we’re going back to video games on weekends only. They spent far too many hours playing over the summer (yes our fault I know) and need the mental break. We’ll see if they start feeling isolated from their friends and reevaluate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5th grader- so far, so good. We started off on the wrong foot by logging into teams when in fact we needed to go to Canvas instead. (And, despite this being a DCPS device, it says that both Chrome and Firefox are not supported browsers.)

My DC has been engaged for the most part. Now on lunch break.

We are having a no video game policy until after school. Do any other parents have similar bans on tech outside of school during the school day?

Yes, absolutely. We weren’t strict in the spring and it was our downfall!

Yep. We don't have a flat ban, because my kid reads books on the Kindle and likes to listen to podcasts during lunch. But no "fun" screens during school hours, and we heavily limit screen time before and after school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First day - lots of happy faces and chatter and getting to know each other activities. Seemed to go very well. The teacher went through the schedule, the materials that were sent home (books, guides, all kinds of supplies) and the links and online programs that will be used.

I started to get excited about this school year last week when my child received a "gift box" from her teacher with books, games, art supplies and more. I am really impressed with what was given on top of the laptop and offer of internet support (we didn't need this as our internet is sufficient). Plus my kid acted like she was getting a second birthday when the box arrived.

There will be live instruction every day with morning and afternoon sessions Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and morning only on Wednesday.

The bad and ugly are that many families don't have great internet at home and there are kids who desperately need to be in person more than others. Out of 20 kids or so online, at least 3-4 had bad reception, lots of static and couldn't hear or couldn't be heard. There was one kid who just hated being online but stayed on and participated with his parent at his side.

Overall, I want school to reopen in person but, so far, the school's response is better than expected.

Did all school send books and whatnot home? Ours has not sent anything (WOTP DCPS).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5th grader- so far, so good. We started off on the wrong foot by logging into teams when in fact we needed to go to Canvas instead. (And, despite this being a DCPS device, it says that both Chrome and Firefox are not supported browsers.)

My DC has been engaged for the most part. Now on lunch break.

We are having a no video game policy until after school. Do any other parents have similar bans on tech outside of school during the school day?

Yes, we’re going back to video games on weekends only. They spent far too many hours playing over the summer (yes our fault I know) and need the mental break. We’ll see if they start feeling isolated from their friends and reevaluate.

This is our problem. The phone is literally our MS child's only source of socialization. We just put restrictions on the phone so she needs permission from us first. It helps us to ensure school work and chores are done first.

[Anonymous]

Have still not been able to log-in to Canvas. Have been working on and off with tech support all day while my kid just has a normal play day at home without school. But she's just in PK3 so we are not overly concerned. We figure any value we get out of DL is a bonus this year. We stayed enrolled because we want to support the school and because we felt that having some input/support from an ECE teacher would help us.

Hopefully we'll get logged in eventually! I will say tech support appears to either not be working at all or is completely overwhelmed. Again, not a huge issue for us but I hope folks with older kids are having better luck!

[Anonymous]

1st grade. Day is too long (multiple 30 minute live sessions) and multiple 30 minute independent work blocks in several learning sites. He is exhausted and ready to be done and we still have an hour left.

Also, the teacher only calls on the kids she can "see".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5th grader- so far, so good. We started off on the wrong foot by logging into teams when in fact we needed to go to Canvas instead. (And, despite this being a DCPS device, it says that both Chrome and Firefox are not supported browsers.)

My DC has been engaged for the most part. Now on lunch break.

We are having a no video game policy until after school. Do any other parents have similar bans on tech outside of school during the school day?

Yes, we’re going back to video games on weekends only. They spent far too many hours playing over the summer (yes our fault I know) and need the mental break. We’ll see if they start feeling isolated from their friends and reevaluate.

This is our problem. The phone is literally our MS child's only source of socialization. We just put restrictions on the phone so she needs permission from us first. It helps us to ensure school work and chores are done first.

I hear you. My kids have no self-control when it comes to video games/YouTube. I was happy they could “hang” with friends but they rarely took a self-imposed break to do anything else. If they didn’t go to camp I’m sure they could easily stay gaming from the moment they wake up until bedtime. Admittedly DH and I could do a better job with restrictions, for now it’s just easier to say no during the weekdays.

[Anonymous]

My elementary DC hates it. Please, Bowser - restart school!

[Anonymous]

K- she didn’t want to dial in because she hated last year. They had 2 hours of live instruction and with a 15 min break. It was too much and too much work for me.

Much older or her CC old registered recently for her school so she had nothing in canvas and no morning meetings. Dialed in for afternoon meeting and the teacher sent them to canvas for a 35 assignment (but my kid had nothing there).

I am ready to day drink and let them both drop out.

[Anonymous]

3rd grade. It’s going ok, but I can already tell the day is too long. They need to cut the morning meeting to 5-10 minutes and get rid of the after-lunch period unless its small groups. Live instruction needs to be over by lunch.