Why are parents so fixated on reopening schools in-person?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you are paid to do a job. If you are upset because you have to assist with blowing noses - teaching young children is not for you. Please, we know now how you truly feel in your heart about children.

Further - you have all of us inadequate (by yoUr standards) parents by the “proverbial” you know what’s - and for that matter, our kids’ education -
and you chose to walk. Duly noted.

You won. Our kids have gone 8 months without you.

Please quit. Unemployment lines are waiting.

No. They will continue to teach via distance learning during a pandemic.

Keep throwing a fit if it makes you feel better, though.

The "it's a pandemic" excuse goes both ways though. Okay, it's a pandemic, so we've decided we can't do in person school. I don't 100% agree, but I'm not in charge so I'll accept it. But now it's time to figure out how to make DL actually work. It's not working for a lot of grade levels and for a lot of kids. In my house, we find ourselves having to choose between doing DL (technology problems, tons of screen time, kids don't get enough activity/exercise, we have to go over the material again later anyway because the DL sessions aren't really age appropriate and they don't absorb much info) or skipping DL and actually teaching our kids. Increasingly, we just blow off the DL sessions because it's much more effective for us to spend 30 minutes or so going over a concept with one of our kids and the taking them on a walk to the playground and talking about the concepts as we go. Then we reiterate and reinforce in the afternoon using reading time or worksheets. What we are doing is effective. It's also incredibly hard to do while also doing a full-time job (so now I do most of my job at night and on the weekends).

But schools actually could facilitate this better style of learning via DL. Fewer live group sessions, more well-organized packets and assignments, combined with small groups and one-on-ones throughout the week to check on progress. I also think all teachers should be doing periodic meetings with parents or whatever caregiver is overseeing DL to discuss how its going and troubleshoot. Instead, schools are sticking to the totally ineffective schedules and tactics that they came up with last spring, most of which are just a hamfisted way of trying to recreate in-person school inside a video screen. It doesn't work, and in many ways it serves as a distraction from actual learning. I'm not a professional teacher, but I am a parent and professional, and to me it was obvious how we need to alter what we were doing to make it work. It should be obvious to the teachers and administrators, too.

I am also doing a job from home that does not lend itself to WFH. I have had to be creative and come up with different approaches to make it work. I've had to learn new technology or spend my weekend experimenting with different methods for presenting information so that I can still be effective at my job even though it's not in person. It's been challenging but I've stretched and made it work. And if I hadn't, trust that my employer would be on me to figure it out.

So yeah, it's a pandemic. We all have to adapt. Lets see the schools and teachers actually adapt in order to get their jobs done, instead of just blaming parents for the ineffectiveness of DL.

Teachers adapted. Parents haven't.

You need child care. Pay for it. You are working and a professional.

No, read the post again. I, as a parent, have adapted. I saw DL was not working and found a teaching method that actually works. The teacher and school HAVE NOT ADAPTED. They are still offering the same ineffective DL as they were in March. None of the kids in my child's class are learning via DL. At best, the kids are compliant and willing to sit and watch the lessons. They barely participate and there is no evidence of knowledge retention. That's the best case scenario. At worst, they are inattentive, tantruming, actively disruptive, or not present. That describes more than half of the kids in the class. And their totally understandable struggles with the format make it very hard for even the quiet, compliant children to get anything out of the lessons. It is not working. There is no adaptation.

And second, there is no child care that will provide what I am describing, beyond hiring a tutor to come in 20 hours a week and provide what we are currently providing ourselves. We would need someone capable of working with K and 1st grade students and probably with a background in teaching. In other words, we would need a... TEACHER. You aren't suggesting we hire childcare, you are suggesting we hire our own personal teacher. A person with those credentials would (and should) charge something like $50-80 hr. There is no way we could pay that. We could pay a babysitter, which is just childcare (not education), but then we'd still be providing our child's education since a regular $20/hr baby-sitter does not have the skill set to teach a 5 and 6 year old.

So no. Teachers have not adapted. I don't really even blame the teachers -- I know that they are actually pretty limited in how much they can innovate because the central office has dictated the technology they use, the amount of live teaching they do, even the schedule of the classes. But then the schools need to innovate, or give teachers freedom to do so. Anything else is a failure.

And no, it's not a childcare problem. There definitely IS a childcare crisis, but I'm not talking about that here. This is an education problem. This is the public schools abdicating responsibility for educating children. And in my case, these are kids at a critical stage with regards to literacy and it's actually scary what is happening. I think we are doing okay, but I know many of the other kids are not. I really worry what will happen when kids finally show up back in the classroom and 50-70% of the class have severely regressed on their reading skills. It's going to be a massive crisis. We could address it now, but instead we're just yelling at parents and telling them to suck it up. It's amazing how little interest anyone in a position of power has in the insight of the people who are actually with the kids and who can see what is actually happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you are paid to do a job. If you are upset because you have to assist with blowing noses - teaching young children is not for you. Please, we know now how you truly feel in your heart about children.

Further - you have all of us inadequate (by yoUr standards) parents by the “proverbial” you know what’s - and for that matter, our kids’ education -
and you chose to walk. Duly noted.

You won. Our kids have gone 8 months without you.

Please quit. Unemployment lines are waiting.

No. They will continue to teach via distance learning during a pandemic.

Keep throwing a fit if it makes you feel better, though.

The "it's a pandemic" excuse goes both ways though. Okay, it's a pandemic, so we've decided we can't do in person school. I don't 100% agree, but I'm not in charge so I'll accept it. But now it's time to figure out how to make DL actually work. It's not working for a lot of grade levels and for a lot of kids. In my house, we find ourselves having to choose between doing DL (technology problems, tons of screen time, kids don't get enough activity/exercise, we have to go over the material again later anyway because the DL sessions aren't really age appropriate and they don't absorb much info) or skipping DL and actually teaching our kids. Increasingly, we just blow off the DL sessions because it's much more effective for us to spend 30 minutes or so going over a concept with one of our kids and the taking them on a walk to the playground and talking about the concepts as we go. Then we reiterate and reinforce in the afternoon using reading time or worksheets. What we are doing is effective. It's also incredibly hard to do while also doing a full-time job (so now I do most of my job at night and on the weekends).

But schools actually could facilitate this better style of learning via DL. Fewer live group sessions, more well-organized packets and assignments, combined with small groups and one-on-ones throughout the week to check on progress. I also think all teachers should be doing periodic meetings with parents or whatever caregiver is overseeing DL to discuss how its going and troubleshoot. Instead, schools are sticking to the totally ineffective schedules and tactics that they came up with last spring, most of which are just a hamfisted way of trying to recreate in-person school inside a video screen. It doesn't work, and in many ways it serves as a distraction from actual learning. I'm not a professional teacher, but I am a parent and professional, and to me it was obvious how we need to alter what we were doing to make it work. It should be obvious to the teachers and administrators, too.

I am also doing a job from home that does not lend itself to WFH. I have had to be creative and come up with different approaches to make it work. I've had to learn new technology or spend my weekend experimenting with different methods for presenting information so that I can still be effective at my job even though it's not in person. It's been challenging but I've stretched and made it work. And if I hadn't, trust that my employer would be on me to figure it out.

So yeah, it's a pandemic. We allead of just blaming parents for the ineffectiveness of DL.

Teachers adapted. Parents haven't.

You need child care. Pay for it. You are working and a professional.

OMG

You can't work with idiots..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In what other profession in this country do you get paid 100% for not doing you job AND (here is the kicker) throw children under the bus to sweeten you deal? Teaching with Union protection.

None.

This is America. Teachers - you CHOSE your jobs. And you are entitled to quit.

So do it. Quit.

Teachers are teaching, and unlike a lot of remote workers they are actually doing their job remotely versus just farting around on message boards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what other profession in this country do you get paid 100% for not doing you job AND (here is the kicker) throw children under the bus to sweeten you deal? Teaching with Union protection.

None.

This is America. Teachers - you CHOSE your jobs. And you are entitled to quit.

So do it. Quit.

Teachers are teaching, and unlike a lot of remote workers they are actually doing their job remotely versus just farting around on message boards

You know what is incredibly ineffective? Telemedicine. Medicine is the most hands on career you could choose. I hear very little outrage by the refusal of medical professionals to show up to work and do the jobs THEY chose, in an environment that is literally designed for disease control. It continues even now, when people insist “everyone else” is back to work. Many doctors are not seeing patients in person, or you have to first schedule (and pay for) a telemedicine appointment so they can evaluate if you “need” to be seen. It’s a scam. People with chronic medical conditions have had severely reduced access to their medical teams since March, and much suffering and death can be attributed to this. It’s really shameful that a profession basking in so many accolades is populated by so many money hungry cowards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what other profession in this country do you get paid 100% for not doing you job AND (here is the kicker) throw children under the bus to sweeten you deal? Teaching with Union protection.

None.

This is America. Teachers - you CHOSE your jobs. And you are entitled to quit.

So do it. Quit.

Teachers are teaching, and unlike a lot of remote workers they are actually doing their job remotely versus just farting around on message boards

You know what is incredibly ineffective? Telemedicine. Medicine is the most hands on career you could choose. I hear very little outrage by the refusal of medical professionals to show up to work and do the jobs THEY chose, in an environment that is literally designed for disease control. It continues even now, when people insist “everyone else” is back to work. Many doctors are not seeing patients in person, or you have to first schedule (and pay for) a telemedicine appointment so they can evaluate if you “need” to be seen. It’s a scam. People with chronic medical conditions have had severely reduced access to their medical teams since March, and much suffering and death can be attributed to this. It’s really shameful that a profession basking in so many accolades is populated by so many money hungry cowards.

huh? There was a period of time where it was hard to be seen in person, but all doctors offices I know of are in person now. Dentist, OBGYN, dermatologist, radiologist for mammogram, physical therapists. Even my psychologist is moving towards in-patient sessions with patients who want it. One Medical is open for in-person visits and has been for months.

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent and a teacher at a private school. School needs to be in-person. I'm fine with hybrid, because I think you do need less classroom density. However, staring at a screen all day isn't a normal or healthy way to learn.

The data supports keeping schools open with mitigation measures and the ability to shift to remote learning if cases rise in a school community.

Just a post to take a brief break from accusing teachers of not caring or bashing parents for not wanting to educate their kids alongside their full time jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what other profession in this country do you get paid 100% for not doing you job AND (here is the kicker) throw children under the bus to sweeten you deal? Teaching with Union protection.

None.

This is America. Teachers - you CHOSE your jobs. And you are entitled to quit.

So do it. Quit.

Teachers are teaching, and unlike a lot of remote workers they are actually doing their job remotely versus just farting around on message boards

You know what is incredibly ineffective? Telemedicine. Medicine is the most hands on career you could choose. I hear very little outrage by the refusal of medical professionals to show up to work and do the jobs THEY chose, in an environment that is literally designed for disease control. It continues even now, when people insist “everyone else” is back to work. Many doctors are not seeing patients in person, or you have to first schedule (and pay for) a telemedicine appointment so they can evaluate if you “need” to be seen. It’s a scam. People with chronic medical conditions have had severely reduced access to their medical teams since March, and much suffering and death can be attributed to this. It’s really shameful that a profession basking in so many accolades is populated by so many money hungry cowards.

huh? There was a period of time where it was hard to be seen in person, but all doctors offices I know of are in person now. Dentist, OBGYN, dermatologist, radiologist for mammogram, physical therapists. Even my psychologist is moving towards in-patient sessions with patients who want it. One Medical is open for in-person visits and has been for months.

Quite a few of my doctors are still doing telehealth visits. Our dermatologists (mine and DS), my therapist, etc. They are not all open. My GYN just told me she is closing after Thanksgiving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we have dumped so many social responsibilities on the school system—childcare, food, social skills, counseling, etc.—that we are just in a state of shock when they assert that their main job is education.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents need to learn how to parent. Maybe start living in joint families.

How dare you? I know how to parent. And if someone would pay me $100,000 a year to teach my child that would be one thing, but I am being expected to do that for free. I have a job. I cannot do it and also a second, unpaid job that I am not being paid for and that forces me to work an additional 8 hours for free. FIX DISTANCE LEARNING and take responsibility for your students.

So, I can come through zoom and wake your child up? I can give your child breakfast so that they can focus? I can take the legos, stuffed animals, and video games away from him so he can actually focus on learning? I can give him a quiet background so that he can learn? I can sit with him for 4 hours to review all that he/she refused to get during instructional time? I can do his assignments for him? I can prep him for tests since he missed a lot of assignments? I cannot do ANY of these things. I can provide instruction, encourage, mentor, and have additional zoom time within reason to help him/her but I cannot do all of the above. That is the parent's job.

It's funny, because you actually can do most of these things, in a building called a school. You just refuse to.

+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.

+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.

I know you really wish super duper hard that your narrative were true, but it just isn't.

We know our kids are learning (not "quiet and not bothering me in front of a screen" because we TALK to our children, ENGAGE with them, and we know exactly what they are learning. Try eating meals with your kids and finding out what they are leaning. If their answer is "nothing," then HELP THEM. You don't work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Use your time to help your kids instead of endlessly, endlessly bitching on the internet aqbout how it's somebody else's job to parent your kids.

You are delusional, so there isn't any point in continuing the discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you are paid to do a job. If you are upset because you have to assist with blowing noses - teaching young children is not for you. Please, we know now how you truly feel in your heart about children.

Further - you have all of us inadequate (by yoUr standards) parents by the “proverbial” you know what’s - and for that matter, our kids’ education -
and you chose to walk. Duly noted.

You won. Our kids have gone 8 months without you.

Please quit. Unemployment lines are waiting.

What the heck is wrong with you? I teach older kids (HS) and don't blow any noses. You definitely don't know how I feel about anything.

I'm still waiting for the school to call me up and tell me my classroom is ready and my students will be there.... but oh wait. They're not going to do that because they can't get their darn act together. So no, I won't be quitting. I'll be continuing to hold online classes until I get that call. Yell at someone who actually has control over the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fixated because private school and Catholic school kids have been in school ALL YEAR in DC and elsewhere. There's no reason, other than politics, for public schools to be closed and private schools to be opened.

I'm also fixated because I can cite you name after name of public health experts, doctors, educators, who all say we need to reopen schools and prioritize schools. Yet contrary to the grandiose claims to "believe science," parents and politicians in DC are now completely ignoring all of this science.

And finally I'm fixated on the incredibly hypocrisy of progressives in DC pretending to care about black kids and marginalized people, all the while refusing to engage with the actual facts in front of their eyes: rich white kids in DC are being educated; poor black kids are not.

Teacher here. I'm also a parent of a Catholic school student who is in school twice a week. I teach in public school. Public and private schools are like night and day with reopening. My district asked for volunteers to open for certain student populations. I attended the meeting and my main questions were about masks. I would go back if schools could send children home for failure to comply with mask rules. They said they couldn't do that. If a kid won't wear a mask properly, teachers are supposed to ENCOURAGE them to wear it the right way. Um, what? At my son's school, a few boys weren't wearing theirs correctly and they were immediately sent home and couldn't return to school at all. If I don't pick up my sick kid at school within 40 minutes of being called, he cannot return to school at all. They are serious and no-nonsense and that's why I allow him to go to school. Nobody is "encouraging" the students to follow the rules there. If they don't follow them, they go home permanently. No questions asked.

Agree. My kids are going to in-person private school and how they are set up to function safely is not possible in most public school districts. 1) The extra staff hired just for cleaning and resources purchased to disinfect 2) We had to sign a contact that we are social distancing outside of school and we must notify school if any member of household leaves the state and may be subjected to a quarantine at the school's discretion 3) Masks MUST be worn, if not, child goes home 4) ALL illness needs a dr note to return to school 5) If you are called to pick your child up and you MUST be there within 30 min, if not, child is not allowed back at school 6)Kids are met at car by a teacher, get their temp taken before being allowed out of car AND parents have to take temp and fill out a form and submit it before arriving at school

Private schools have the authority to make their own rules and enforce them. Parents are more responsible at private schools because they are paying $$$ for their children to go and their children will not be able to attend if they don't follow the rules. Public schools can't do this. Kids get sick at public schools and sit in the office all day long because parents don't come get them. Kids are set to school from home sick all the time at public school and they can't do anything about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm fixated because private school and Catholic school kids have been in school ALL YEAR in DC and elsewhere. There's no reason, other than politics, for public schools to be closed and private schools to be opened.

I'm also fixated because I can cite you name after name of public health experts, doctors, educators, who all say we need to reopen schools and prioritize schools. Yet contrary to the grandiose claims to "believe science," parents and politicians in DC are now completely ignoring all of this science.

And finally I'm fixated on the incredibly hypocrisy of progressives in DC pretending to care about black kids and marginalized people, all the while refusing to engage with the actual facts in front of their eyes: rich white kids in DC are being educated; poor black kids are not.

Teacher here. I'm also a parent of a Catholic school student who is in school twice a week. I teach in public school. Public and private schools are like night and day with reopening. My district asked for volunteers to open for certain student populations. I attended the meeting and my main questions were about masks. I would go back if schools could send children home for failure to comply with mask rules. They said they couldn't do that. If a kid won't wear a mask properly, teachers are supposed to ENCOURAGE them to wear it the right way. Um, what? At my son's school, a few boys weren't wearing theirs correctly and they were immediately sent home and couldn't return to school at all. If I don't pick up my sick kid at school within 40 minutes of being called, he cannot return to school at all. They are serious and no-nonsense and that's why I allow him to go to school. Nobody is "encouraging" the students to follow the rules there. If they don't follow them, they go home permanently. No questions asked.

Agree. My kids are going to in-person private school and how they are set up to function safely is not possible in most public school districts. 1) The extra staff hired just for cleaning and resources purchased to disinfect 2) We had to sign a contact that we are social distancing outside of school and we must notify school if any member of household leaves the state and may be subjected to a quarantine at the school's discretion 3) Masks MUST be worn, if not, child goes home 4) ALL illness needs a dr note to return to school 5) If you are called to pick your child up and you MUST be there within 30 min, if not, child is not allowed back at school 6)Kids are met at car by a teacher, get their temp taken before being allowed out of car AND parents have to take temp and fill out a form and submit it before arriving at school

Private schools have the authority to make their own rules and enforce them. Parents are more responsible at private schools because they are paying $$$ for their children to go and their children will not be able to attend if they don't follow the rules. Public schools can't do this. Kids get sick at public schools and sit in the office all day long because parents don't come get them. Kids are set to school from home sick all the time at public school and they can't do anything about it.

Oh how nice that you think there is no other possibility than your kids continuing to learn in person because you can pay, and the rest of us getting subpar DL.

Look, just like the curriculum in private schools isn’t per se better just because you can pay for it, there’s zero evidence that public schools can’t manage covid risks as well as privates. NYC publics did not show higher rates than privates, as far as I am aware.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In what other profession in this country do you get paid 100% for not doing you job AND (here is the kicker) throw children under the bus to sweeten you deal? Teaching with Union protection.

None.

This is America. Teachers - you CHOSE your jobs. And you are entitled to quit.

So do it. Quit.

Why should we quit? I'm perfectly happy with the way things are going right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you are paid to do a job. If you are upset because you have to assist with blowing noses - teaching young children is not for you. Please, we know now how you truly feel in your heart about children.

Further - you have all of us inadequate (by yoUr standards) parents by the “proverbial” you know what’s - and for that matter, our kids’ education -
and you chose to walk. Duly noted.

You won. Our kids have gone 8 months without you.

Please quit. Unemployment lines are waiting.

This is exactly what I’m saying. I don’t want to blow Johnny’s nose (exposing myself to whatever germs making him sick) so I hate children. Got it. Enjoy blowing your own children’s noses this year, or maybe try teaching them to do it themselves. I’m so tired of being expected to mother my students and being scoffed at by parents who refuse to assist with homework, open their child’s folder, read with their child, or participate in their child’s education in any way because it’s “not their job”. I have literally had parents send in baby wipes with their fourth grader and ask me to clean their face thoroughly throughout the day. The answer is no.
Why don’t you quit your own job? It seems like if it’s really challenging for you to wrangle one child and assist them with the academic work designed and delivered by someone else, then you probably have no business trying to manage the complexities of the working world. Unemployment lines are waiting.

You do understand that it was a choice that you made, freely, to be a teacher? You provide a service for which you are paid.
You know what your job requires. No moral or ethical judgment needs to be made. You do your job - you get paid. Capitalism.

Your meritless claims regarding anybody else’s job or child rearing capability do not answer the question
- why are you still teaching?

What “meritless claim”? You are the one who keeps telling other people to quit, while complaining about how your own life is so unmanageable because you have to supervise distance learning. We’re just trying to help you.
You also chose to have children, there was never a guarantee that there would be no large scale emergency that would dramatically alter the social landscape. You’re just going to have to deal with it.

Exactly. Your family found a solution and it works for you. Other families, including teachers and their families, are trying to find the solution for them. DL is a Band-Aid. The county is not going to put in a lot of money into correcting it if we're just going to return to school in the next year. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers: you are paid to do a job. If you are upset because you have to assist with blowing noses - teaching young children is not for you. Please, we know now how you truly feel in your heart about children.

Further - you have all of us inadequate (by yoUr standards) parents by the “proverbial” you know what’s - and for that matter, our kids’ education -
and you chose to walk. Duly noted.

You won. Our kids have gone 8 months without you.

Please quit. Unemployment lines are waiting.

No. They will continue to teach via distance learning during a pandemic.

Keep throwing a fit if it makes you feel better, though.

The "it's a pandemic" excuse goes both ways though. Okay, it's a pandemic, so we've decided we can't do in person school. I don't 100% agree, but I'm not in charge so I'll accept it. But now it's time to figure out how to make DL actually work. It's not working for a lot of grade levels and for a lot of kids. In my house, we find ourselves having to choose between doing DL (technology problems, tons of screen time, kids don't get enough activity/exercise, we have to go over the material again later anyway because the DL sessions aren't really age appropriate and they don't absorb much info) or skipping DL and actually teaching our kids. Increasingly, we just blow off the DL sessions because it's much more effective for us to spend 30 minutes or so going over a concept with one of our kids and the taking them on a walk to the playground and talking about the concepts as we go. Then we reiterate and reinforce in the afternoon using reading time or worksheets. What we are doing is effective. It's also incredibly hard to do while also doing a full-time job (so now I do most of my job at night and on the weekends).

But schools actually could facilitate this better style of learning via DL. Fewer live group sessions, more well-organized packets and assignments, combined with small groups and one-on-ones throughout the week to check on progress. I also think all teachers should be doing periodic meetings with parents or whatever caregiver is overseeing DL to discuss how its going and troubleshoot. Instead, schools are sticking to the totally ineffective schedules and tactics that they came up with last spring, most of which are just a hamfisted way of trying to recreate in-person school inside a video screen. It doesn't work, and in many ways it serves as a distraction from actual learning. I'm not a professional teacher, but I am a parent and professional, and to me it was obvious how we need to alter what we were doing to make it work. It should be obvious to the teachers and administrators, too.

I am also doing a job from home that does not lend itself to WFH. I have had to be creative and come up with different approaches to make it work. I've had to learn new technology or spend my weekend experimenting with different methods for presenting information so that I can still be effective at my job even though it's not in person. It's been challenging but I've stretched and made it work. And if I hadn't, trust that my employer would be on me to figure it out.

So yeah, it's a pandemic. We all have to adapt. Lets see the schools and teachers actually adapt in order to get their jobs done, instead of just blaming parents for the ineffectiveness of DL.

Teachers adapted. Parents haven't.

You need child care. Pay for it. You are working and a professional.

+1, so true. so many parents are still trying to put that square peg in the round hole.