MCPS asks for 4 days off so teachers can prepare building for in-person instruction

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it's not. Teachers are exempted professional employees under FLSA (i.e., they're salaried). Certain terms of their employment are governed by a collective bargaining agreement (aka, a contract), but they are not contracted employees.

Sure. Let's go with that. Teachers are salaried and working under the terms of a contract, one which specifies duty days and hours. And, of course, teachers still work hour upon hour on their own time as it is, without MCPS requiring more of them.

FWIW, I'm a part time sp ed para these days (so an hourly employee). I've been salaried most of my professional life, supervising both salaried and hourly employees, but never any under a collective bargaining agreement. I've always tried to recognize the need for my employees to have a fairly predictable schedule within reasonable guidelines.

The amount of prep time teachers need for distance learning is absurd. It's akin to preparing material and delivering a fresh presentation for every class. Over and over and over again. With no previous material to repurpose. It's all new! And if you're doing any differentiation for kids with accommodations or needs within a class, multiple versions of it. As it is for many people in the covid era, it's exhausting!

Perhaps some are, but the vast majority of teachers aren't in it for the pajamas, basements, and pedicures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess they cannot walk and chew gum at the same time either.

But, but, but..... it's toooooo hard!!! LOL

Fine. I'll set up my classroom while simultaneously teaching your kid. I hope they can hear me while I drag the desks into position and don't mind me getting up to put name tags, hand sanitizer and tissues on the desks in the middle of them asking a question.

Trust me, teachers already do a lot of multi-tasking while teaching. Wanting them to set up a physical classroom while simultaneously teaching virtually is an idiotic idea.

Building services set up my desks, but that’s all that will happen in my room. Everything will be on Chromebooks. No tissues or sanitizers available yet. Hope they can bring their own. It’s all good.

Such a great attitude. How you are my kids teacher. Hope your real pants still fit.

I lost 40 lbs since last March so no, my “real pants” from last year don’t still fit. I’ll use my personal time to buy some more on Amazon rather than decorate jack in that room.

Why on earth did you get into teaching? What grade do you teach? Will you talk like that in front of a group of hopeful and exciting seven year olds so happy to be back at school — sorry I didn’t decorate Jack for you! Please find a different profession if you hate the children that much. It’s not fair to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

Yes, they are pretending, sort of. And no, not really. Although as Biden and the Biden led CDC talks more and more about opening school, it will be harder to claim those that want to open are Hogan/Trump lackeys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth did you get into teaching? What grade do you teach? Will you talk like that in front of a group of hopeful and exciting seven year olds so happy to be back at school — sorry I didn’t decorate Jack for you! Please find a different profession if you hate the children that much. It’s not fair to them.

Code switching. This is not an audience of 7 year olds. Regardless of how some act...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

Yes, they are pretending, sort of. And no, not really. Although as Biden and the Biden led CDC talks more and more about opening school, it will be harder to claim those that want to open are Hogan/Trump lackeys.

Also, I find it interesting/not interesting that they would not have done this...when schools were going to open on 2/1. I mean... if everyone was planning to open up on 2/1 they would have already been set up, no?

And no, I am not a teacher hater. I am a teacher. This is a structural failure. Teachers have been allowed to normalize yelling into a computer screen as teaching.

It just kind of like transferring a kid from a nice comfy cozy crib to a big boy bed. It feels scary and unsure. But only because you had isolated yourself for too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I'm seeing on this forum is very interesting. Teachers are saying that they are working hard to maintain DL and some parents are denying it. Parents are saying that DL is not working for their child and some teachers are denying it. Both of these things can be true. Teachers can be working hard and DL can also not work for everybody. Trash-talking parents and teachers for trying their hardest doesn't help anybody in this situation and only leads to an adversarial relationship with resentment on both sides. Ultimately, both "sides" want the same thing, for students to receive an education.

Should teachers get 4 days to set up their classroom? I have no idea. But I do know that both parents and teachers are working really hard and are reaching a point where they feel like they are burning out and that's it's just easier to blame somebody else. It is possible for both groups to feel the same way, but for different reasons.

DL only works for parents who raise their kids. Parents who phone it in and normally rely on the MCPS to raise them have issues.

I reckon you missed the poster's point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

I wasn't until other MD districts announced actual plans. Now I think they may try something to say 'well we tried!'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach in person in a private elementary school. We would have loved to have had time to make the bulletin boards and classrooms beautiful for our kids, as many are in weird makeshift spaces. But we didn't have time, and we had to learn a ton of new tech, but guess what? Once we were back, especially once kids were doing projects, we got the rooms and bulletin boards looking nice and welcoming. I don't think the kids suffered for the extra week it took for us to get it looking nice. In the meantime, all of the MCPS building services are working full time with less to do, so have them set up the desks and chairs now. The administrators are by and large in the buildings, and many of them are former teachers. They can get to work on the bulletin boards in the halls. Front office staff can cut out stencilled letters and make welcome back signs, or print name tags so teachers recognize students behind masks, or can get to know new ones. Kids care a lot more about the people saying hi and knowing their name than whether the room is colorful. Principals also can ask for teacher volunteers to help. Some of them might enjoy helping and connecting with admin, and then it's not mandatory.

Exactly! Not to mention these teachers want the 4 days to be considered instructional days for the kids. THAT is the kicker. 4 more days of the kids not learning again. I am so sick of the poor teachers rhetoric they keep spewing. How about some empathy for the parents working and now having to be teachers. I am lucky my job allows me to stay at home all but maybe 10 hours a week. But now I work 3-4 hours at night to make up for the lost day time. WiFi issues, reteaching because not enough times, making lunches, help with “projects” the teachers love to give because it gets them out another 1 hour of teaching. It is non stop.

I don’t ask my boss for more time or more money. I don’t tell my customers I need 4 days off to catch up so I won’t be helping them. I am shocked teachers (who are supposed to care about the kids) would even want the kids to miss another 4 days of school. They are so far behind as it is. It is so sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

I wasn't until other MD districts announced actual plans. Now I think they may try something to say 'well we tried!'

But all the other districts had plans in the Fall too. Many went back to some capacity. And MCPS.... not one plan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

I wasn't until other MD districts announced actual plans. Now I think they may try something to say 'well we tried!'

But all the other districts had plans in the Fall too. Many went back to some capacity. And MCPS.... not one plan

Huh? They released a plan for hybrid etc. Howard and Calvert are going back in a few weeks, not sure about others. They'll definitely feel the pressure to do SOMETHING, especially with numbers going down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

I wasn't until other MD districts announced actual plans. Now I think they may try something to say 'well we tried!'

But all the other districts had plans in the Fall too. Many went back to some capacity. And MCPS.... not one plan

MCPS has released multiple plans, since last summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it's not. Teachers are exempted professional employees under FLSA (i.e., they're salaried). Certain terms of their employment are governed by a collective bargaining agreement (aka, a contract), but they are not contracted employees.

Sure. Let's go with that. Teachers are salaried and working under the terms of a contract, one which specifies duty days and hours. And, of course, teachers still work hour upon hour on their own time as it is, without MCPS requiring more of them.

FWIW, I'm a part time sp ed para these days (so an hourly employee). I've been salaried most of my professional life, supervising both salaried and hourly employees, but never any under a collective bargaining agreement. I've always tried to recognize the need for my employees to have a fairly predictable schedule within reasonable guidelines.

The amount of prep time teachers need for distance learning is absurd. It's akin to preparing material and delivering a fresh presentation for every class. Over and over and over again. With no previous material to repurpose. It's all new! And if you're doing any differentiation for kids with accommodations or needs within a class, multiple versions of it. As it is for many people in the covid era, it's exhausting!

Perhaps some are, but the vast majority of teachers aren't in it for the pajamas, basements, and pedicures.

Can we stop with the ole “teachers work more hours than on the screen or in school”

Great - so does almost every job in the world. But those people START with 40 hours 5x a week all year round. And then they work more on top of that. You are in school or online 6 hours a day and that doesn’t include your 1.5 hour break and other periods you may not have a class. So even if you work all 6 hours, even on Wed too, that is still only 30 hours. And since most jobs do not pay for lunch, technically only 25 hours. So if you work 10-15 hours more during the week, you are JUST hitting the normal hours a person gets paid for FT. If you work 20 hours more, that is still not reaching the average 48 hours a week Americans work. AND the average American doesn’t have week breaks, summers off, and at least two 4 day weeks a month.

So can we please stop with the poor teachers work so many hours. No one is saying you don’t work hard. It just isn’t 50-60 hours a week hard all year, like most Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait- is MCPS pretending they are coming back?

Is anyone buying this?

I wasn't until other MD districts announced actual plans. Now I think they may try something to say 'well we tried!'

But all the other districts had plans in the Fall too. Many went back to some capacity. And MCPS.... not one plan

MCPS has released multiple plans, since last summer.

None they are really going to use. They keep changing them. Watch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I'm seeing on this forum is very interesting. Teachers are saying that they are working hard to maintain DL and some parents are denying it. Parents are saying that DL is not working for their child and some teachers are denying it. Both of these things can be true. Teachers can be working hard and DL can also not work for everybody. Trash-talking parents and teachers for trying their hardest doesn't help anybody in this situation and only leads to an adversarial relationship with resentment on both sides. Ultimately, both "sides" want the same thing, for students to receive an education.

Should teachers get 4 days to set up their classroom? I have no idea. But I do know that both parents and teachers are working really hard and are reaching a point where they feel like they are burning out and that's it's just easier to blame somebody else. It is possible for both groups to feel the same way, but for different reasons.

I like you, rational poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I'm seeing on this forum is very interesting. Teachers are saying that they are working hard to maintain DL and some parents are denying it. Parents are saying that DL is not working for their child and some teachers are denying it. Both of these things can be true. Teachers can be working hard and DL can also not work for everybody. Trash-talking parents and teachers for trying their hardest doesn't help anybody in this situation and only leads to an adversarial relationship with resentment on both sides. Ultimately, both "sides" want the same thing, for students to receive an education.

Should teachers get 4 days to set up their classroom? I have no idea. But I do know that both parents and teachers are working really hard and are reaching a point where they feel like they are burning out and that's it's just easier to blame somebody else. It is possible for both groups to feel the same way, but for different reasons.

I like you, rational poster.

Agreed, although as a working parent, I burned out a long, long time ago. I imagine many teachers did, too.

I really wish we could be matter of fact about these issues. It's not a personal criticism of teachers' hard work to state that the DL model doesn't work for many kids. It's also not a personal criticism of parents to state that teachers are working hard and doing their best to educate students remotely. As PP said, both are true.