Virtual Learning for Elementary School-Description by Our Principal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wait, am I dumb? Why do the online schedules have to match up to the in-person schedules if they are two completely different systems with no crossover.

I’m assuming that there will be teachers that will teach kids in person, but also have periods where they will do virtual classes, and it would be helpful to have matching schedules?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only expected 2.5 hours, based on the SB meeting docs. I would be ok with this plan for my second grader so long as there is feedback on the independent work being done during small group time. Though I'd be happier if the science / social studies block went longer.

Do you think it’s appropriate amount of instruction for a sixth grader.

I cannot imagine all the kids taking World Language! They are not going to have enough practice to handle things once they hit high school level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP-
These are my notes:
20 minutes-morning meeting
20 minutes-language arts
one hour: teacher meets with 1-2 reading groups, other students leave the classroom and work independently
break
15 minutes-math
20 minutes-math small group-1 per day
60 minutes-lunch
30 minutes special-1 per day
15 minutes science or social studies
teacher might have office hours but not daily

Everything looks reasonable to me. Although I don't know why there is 1 hour for lunch when they only get 30 minutes in the school but maybe some people have to get to the school for lunch. In that case they should have a longer gap for lunch (maybe 2 hours) because it takes time for some families to get to the school to grab their lunches and then return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP-
These are my notes:
20 minutes-morning meeting
20 minutes-language arts
one hour: teacher meets with 1-2 reading groups, other students leave the classroom and work independently
break
15 minutes-math
20 minutes-math small group-1 per day
60 minutes-lunch
30 minutes special-1 per day
15 minutes science or social studies
teacher might have office hours but not daily

Did you write to the principal to ask about the discrepancy?

OP-No. In the meeting, parents were asking in the chat why it was less time than the FCPS plan and the principal said this was what worked best because in the classroom, the teacher spent most of the time in small groups.

[Anonymous]

I don't think principals should be allowed to do less than the minimum set by FCPS and that is way less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think principals should be allowed to do less than the minimum set by FCPS and that is way less.

I agree. If small groups are important, then the teacher should make sure each kid has a small group a day in order to get to the required instruction time.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s laughable that principals made the schedule. The schedule should have been made with most I put from classroom teachers, although I realize they are not on co tract time right now. Almost every teacher I know would be happy to respond to this issue, even off the clock, though.

As a veteran elementary school teacher, I think the OP’s schedule is completely insufficient. I also would put the morning meeting at the end, and call it something else, because a lot of kids have used up their attention and patience after sitting through twenty minutes of everyone greeting each other and three kids stumbling through their show and tell. Too much time on morning meeting burns the kids out. Start with the most important material while they are fresh.

Fifteen minutes for social studies and science is insane. They should be reading and discussing, or all watching a video and stopping and discussing, or taking a virtual museum tour and stopping to hear the teacher highlight information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was a sample schedule for upper grades released by our principal, with a total listed as 4 hours of synchronous instruction.

10:00-11:15: Morning Meeting/LA
11:15-12:00 Science/Social Studies
LUNCH
12:30-1:30 Math instruction
BREAK
1:45-2:45 or 2:50-3:50 Specials

The assumption was that kids would do assignments after their synchronous time had completed as well.

OP, sounds like your school is choosing to do less than they could.

Why would online learning start at 10?

The schedule is suppoesd to match up with the real school's schedule.

Not for Elementary School. For ES it's only 2.5-3.5 hours a day for the four days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was a sample schedule for upper grades released by our principal, with a total listed as 4 hours of synchronous instruction.

10:00-11:15: Morning Meeting/LA
11:15-12:00 Science/Social Studies
LUNCH
12:30-1:30 Math instruction
BREAK
1:45-2:45 or 2:50-3:50 Specials

The assumption was that kids would do assignments after their synchronous time had completed as well.

OP, sounds like your school is choosing to do less than they could.

Why would online learning start at 10?

The schedule is suppoesd to match up with the real school's schedule.

Not for Elementary School. For ES it's only 2.5-3.5 hours a day for the four days.

RIght, but for some reason they are scheduling the virtual start time to match up with the in-person school time.

[Anonymous]

You guys. An elementary aged kid can't listen to a teacher talk for 2.5 - 3 hours out of the day and actually absorb what is being said. Middle elementary kids have attention spans of like 15 minutes. Then they need to practice things a little or take a break. It would be absurd to have a 2.5 - 3.5 hour chunk of time with the teacher talking to the kids over the computer continuously the entire time. And your kid would hate it and not learn much. In school, they do a little mini lesson on the rug, then they get up and do independent work such as rotating stations with worksheets, computer work, math games, group work, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s laughable that principals made the schedule. The schedule should have been made with most I put from classroom teachers, although I realize they are not on co tract time right now. Almost every teacher I know would be happy to respond to this issue, even off the clock, though.

As a veteran elementary school teacher, I think the OP’s schedule is completely insufficient. I also would put the morning meeting at the end, and call it something else, because a lot of kids have used up their attention and patience after sitting through twenty minutes of everyone greeting each other and three kids stumbling through their show and tell. Too much time on morning meeting burns the kids out. Start with the most important material while they are fresh.

Fifteen minutes for social studies and science is insane. They should be reading and discussing, or all watching a video and stopping and discussing, or taking a virtual museum tour and stopping to hear the teacher highlight information.

Very good insight!

Please, please share this info with every single teacher in FCPS. Whatever they are going to learn in a day, it is going to be in the first 20 minutes.

I use this myself, an adult. I get my children to do the same every day. The first 30 minutes is where you learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You guys. An elementary aged kid can't listen to a teacher talk for 2.5 - 3 hours out of the day and actually absorb what is being said. Middle elementary kids have attention spans of like 15 minutes. Then they need to practice things a little or take a break. It would be absurd to have a 2.5 - 3.5 hour chunk of time with the teacher talking to the kids over the computer continuously the entire time. And your kid would hate it and not learn much. In school, they do a little mini lesson on the rug, then they get up and do independent work such as rotating stations with worksheets, computer work, math games, group work, etc.

Good points. Too much focus on 2.5 hours or 3.5 hours. Dont measure time in front of teacher. Measure outcomes. Grade assignments. Test. Test. Test. Right from K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s laughable that principals made the schedule. The schedule should have been made with most I put from classroom teachers, although I realize they are not on co tract time right now. Almost every teacher I know would be happy to respond to this issue, even off the clock, though.

As a veteran elementary school teacher, I think the OP’s schedule is completely insufficient. I also would put the morning meeting at the end, and call it something else, because a lot of kids have used up their attention and patience after sitting through twenty minutes of everyone greeting each other and three kids stumbling through their show and tell. Too much time on morning meeting burns the kids out. Start with the most important material while they are fresh.

Fifteen minutes for social studies and science is insane. They should be reading and discussing, or all watching a video and stopping and discussing, or taking a virtual museum tour and stopping to hear the teacher highlight information.

If you were my kid's elementary school teacher, I would consider DL. Our FCPS ES did not do this and it was a disaster this spring for my first grader.

[Anonymous]

Did y’all really read the DL info sheet for ES closely? It seems like you didn’t.

It’s says FCPS staff (not just the teachers— special, guidance lessons, etc count too) will provide 2.5 to 3.5 hours of direct, synchronous instruction (whole group, small group, individual).

The 2.5 to 3.5 hours is the time a teacher or staff member spends teaching that day. Not the amount of direct contact time your kid has. Especially since ES does not do well with 3.5 hours of a teacher lecturing the whole class.

So, 3.5 hours for 4th grade might well be a 20 minute morning meeting, 1 hour of actual instruction (20 LA, 20 math, 20 science or SS), 1 hour of small groups for reading and math, and if it’s not your kids day they log off (because the teacher can’t monitor, and groups will happen less often with larger class sizes). 30 minutes of specials. And 40 minutes of office hours during which the teacher works 1:1 or with small groups in areas where they are struggling.

If your kid doesn’t happen to have small group scheduled or need 1:1 that day, their direct contact time is more like 2 hours, morning meeting, 1 hour of direct instruction, and specials. The rest of the time they are doing worksheets and reinforcing concepts.

So, OP’s schedule is dead on. When they say an hour of La, they don’t mean an hour of Hs or college level English lit lecture. They mean 20 minutes of ABCs and sight words and group learning and 40 minutes of reading groups.

And BTW, that’s what a kid in class gets too— a 15 minute lesson, then work on stations or a worksheet during reading groups. you kid don’t get 3.5 hours of actual academic instruction during normal times in school until late ES/MS.

If you read the actual language of what you were promised, that’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did y’all really read the DL info sheet for ES closely? It seems like you didn’t.

It’s says FCPS staff (not just the teachers— special, guidance lessons, etc count too) will provide 2.5 to 3.5 hours of direct, synchronous instruction (whole group, small group, individual).

The 2.5 to 3.5 hours is the time a teacher or staff member spends teaching that day. Not the amount of direct contact time your kid has. Especially since ES does not do well with 3.5 hours of a teacher lecturing the whole class.

So, 3.5 hours for 4th grade might well be a 20 minute morning meeting, 1 hour of actual instruction (20 LA, 20 math, 20 science or SS), 1 hour of small groups for reading and math, and if it’s not your kids day they log off (because the teacher can’t monitor, and groups will happen less often with larger class sizes). 30 minutes of specials. And 40 minutes of office hours during which the teacher works 1:1 or with small groups in areas where they are struggling.

If your kid doesn’t happen to have small group scheduled or need 1:1 that day, their direct contact time is more like 2 hours, morning meeting, 1 hour of direct instruction, and specials. The rest of the time they are doing worksheets and reinforcing concepts.

So, OP’s schedule is dead on. When they say an hour of La, they don’t mean an hour of Hs or college level English lit lecture. They mean 20 minutes of ABCs and sight words and group learning and 40 minutes of reading groups.

And BTW, that’s what a kid in class gets too— a 15 minute lesson, then work on stations or a worksheet during reading groups. you kid don’t get 3.5 hours of actual academic instruction during normal times in school until late ES/MS.

If you read the actual language of what you were promised, that’s it.

Thanks so much for the clarification! It certainly has helped me make up my mind about what my option will be this fall. We'll be going hybrid.