What are schools/teachers doing this summer to make DL actually work?

[Anonymous]

I’m working FT and taking an online grad course for my recertification. If they want to pay me to prepare for the fall and it pays as much as my nannying/tutoring job, I would consider it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

[Anonymous]

I would like to add that I am not going to spend hours making videos assuming it will be DL in the fall without any guidance or information from the district. Because if we don't do full time DL I will have wasted a lot of time during the summer, when I am not being paid. I instead will spend time reading to and playing with my toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

That is what happens in other countries. More variable here because generally we don’t have year round school. My cousins have year round school. There are longer breaks during the year. No gap for 10 weeks where you are looking for care and kids fall behind. I’d be supportive so I have no idea what PP is on about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

That is what happens in other countries. More variable here because generally we don’t have year round school. My cousins have year round school. There are longer breaks during the year. No gap for 10 weeks where you are looking for care and kids fall behind. I’d be supportive so I have no idea what PP is on about.

I am PP and I don’t have a problem with year round school either. But it would mean we had school either during July or August and lots of parents at my school already complain about cutting their European vacations short because school starts in mid-August. And if parents want year round, which I believe is the same number of instructional days, then lobby politicians to change it. But what the other poster was claiming was we should work 12 months a year and work 12 months a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

That is what happens in other countries. More variable here because generally we don’t have year round school. My cousins have year round school. There are longer breaks during the year. No gap for 10 weeks where you are looking for care and kids fall behind. I’d be supportive so I have no idea what PP is on about.

I am PP and I don’t have a problem with year round school either. But it would mean we had school either during July or August and lots of parents at my school already complain about cutting their European vacations short because school starts in mid-August. And if parents want year round, which I believe is the same number of instructional days, then lobby politicians to change it. But what the other poster was claiming was we should work 12 months a year and work 12 months a year.

I am he pp who suggested, if teachers don't get paid to work 12 months, then maybe we should go to year round.

And I am totally going to call the other pp on "perks". I just checked our school calendar. In total, teachers get 16 "early release" days, 16 holidays/"non school" days, one two week winter break (ten total days), one spring break (six total days) and a nine and a half week summer (47 days).

Out of a full working year - 262 days - teachers have 87 days off, which equates to one third of a year. I know teachers who get paid 70K a year. To basically take one third of the year off. So please don't tell me about how corporates have it so good and teachers don't. We all get perks. And we all have sucky parts of our jobs.

And what I was suggesting was a full time schedule, where you get paid your annual salary and are expected to be available 12 months out of the year to do your job minus the 40 days of holiday/"nonschool"/early release/break days.

Considering most corporate or other government folks get a total of 27 days or so off, I'd say you all would still be coming out ahead...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You saying that you sometimes work late is not even remotely the same as expecting TWO MONTHS of unpaid work. Teachers work after school, on weekends, and on vacations, as well, but I think you'll be hard pressed to find another profession where you are essentially furloughed for several months each year and people demand that you continue working during that time. We have strict contracts regarding hours worked, and our jobs are not like office jobs. I can't waltz in with a latte at 10:00 am as most of the people who work in offices do, or take a leisurely hour and a half lunch and expense it to the company. If I walk in the door at 8:01, disciplinary action is taken. If I walk out the door before 3:00, disciplinary action is taken. I can't flex my hours and leave at 1:00 so I can go the doctor, get ready to host Thanksgiving dinner, catch an earlier flight, pick someone up at the airport, etc. I can't decide I'm working from home when the weather is bad like my friends who work in corporate can, and then screw around all day. We don't accrue vacation time. I also don't get any of the perks that corporate workers do-a stipend for my phone, my internet, my car, etc. Teachers don't get performance bonuses, either. Maybe take a look around at all the perks offered in the corporate world before telling teachers they have it so good.

I also have a feeling your coworkers don't hit each other, try to run out the door, bite you, or come in coughing and refuse to leave. Your job is not the same, so just stop trying to compare your compensation and your job expectations with ours.

Lots of teachers phoned it in in March-June. Parents saw that and frankly that is what’s driving this push to get better options for fall. Now you need to do better, All those rules you just recited? Are not going to happen with asynchronous DL.so just cut it.

No idea what you're talking about, as I had to punch in and out every single day of remote learning at our regularly scheduled times, or I would be docked time/pay. You have no idea what I did so you can stop patronizing me. Stay in your lane.

Lol. I was there when this so-called education was delivered. In my school, kids had 30 minutes of live instruction. 30 minutes of recorded specials everyday but held every other week. If you think that’s acceptable for 3-5 grade, you are crazy. You posted all this stuff about how much you worked. When you move to less than 25% of your previous teaching time, you are not work as much. Simple.

For my other kid, teachers had a deadline to post weekly assignments. Would you like to guess how many did so by the deadline? There is a reason parents are worried about DL.

You keep acting like your kids are in my class. Very bizarre. Once again, you don't know me and you aren't my boss. Back off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You saying that you sometimes work late is not even remotely the same as expecting TWO MONTHS of unpaid work. Teachers work after school, on weekends, and on vacations, as well, but I think you'll be hard pressed to find another profession where you are essentially furloughed for several months each year and people demand that you continue working during that time. We have strict contracts regarding hours worked, and our jobs are not like office jobs. I can't waltz in with a latte at 10:00 am as most of the people who work in offices do, or take a leisurely hour and a half lunch and expense it to the company. If I walk in the door at 8:01, disciplinary action is taken. If I walk out the door before 3:00, disciplinary action is taken. I can't flex my hours and leave at 1:00 so I can go the doctor, get ready to host Thanksgiving dinner, catch an earlier flight, pick someone up at the airport, etc. I can't decide I'm working from home when the weather is bad like my friends who work in corporate can, and then screw around all day. We don't accrue vacation time. I also don't get any of the perks that corporate workers do-a stipend for my phone, my internet, my car, etc. Teachers don't get performance bonuses, either. Maybe take a look around at all the perks offered in the corporate world before telling teachers they have it so good.

I also have a feeling your coworkers don't hit each other, try to run out the door, bite you, or come in coughing and refuse to leave. Your job is not the same, so just stop trying to compare your compensation and your job expectations with ours.

Lots of teachers phoned it in in March-June. Parents saw that and frankly that is what’s driving this push to get better options for fall. Now you need to do better, All those rules you just recited? Are not going to happen with asynchronous DL.so just cut it.

No idea what you're talking about, as I had to punch in and out every single day of remote learning at our regularly scheduled times, or I would be docked time/pay. You have no idea what I did so you can stop patronizing me. Stay in your lane.

Lol. I was there when this so-called education was delivered. In my school, kids had 30 minutes of live instruction. 30 minutes of recorded specials everyday but held every other week. If you think that’s acceptable for 3-5 grade, you are crazy. You posted all this stuff about how much you worked. When you move to less than 25% of your previous teaching time, you are not work as much. Simple.

For my other kid, teachers had a deadline to post weekly assignments. Would you like to guess how many did so by the deadline? There is a reason parents are worried about DL.

You keep acting like your kids are in my class. Very bizarre. Once again, you don't know me and you aren't my boss. Back off.

I agree with you PP. The hatred towards educators on this site is like nothing I have ever experienced. Just like with ANY profession, there are good and bad apples to be found. I am an MCPS teacher. I did everything I possibly could to work with and engage my students during distance learning. However, not all teachers are the same. I have children in MCPS, as well as nieces and nephews in the county. I saw firsthand (with my own kids) and heard secondhand (with my nieces and nephews) what other teachers were doing distance learning. It didn’t look the same for all students. Something else to keep in mind is the directives that were given to teachers by admin. Some teachers were told they MUST not go over 30 minutes of live time. Others were told to use their own judgment about what their students needed. Some were told not to harass parents and students about missed work/poor attendance, and others were told to communicate with families regularly. These are just some examples (I could elaborate for sure). Finally, keep in mind that what happened from April - June was a crisis situation- crisis learning. If distance learning is what’s going to happen for the upcoming school year, I would imagine it will look much different. (Not that I have heard anything, because MCPS employees are often the last to hear information that pertains to our job).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Complaining on DCUM about how much they don’t want to be back in person

x10000000

And how parents should "overlook" the cluster that was spring. Y'know, when parents didn't hear from FCPS for TWO MONTHS, and then FCPS dropped the ball and failed miserably, and cares zippo about making anything up??!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

That is what happens in other countries. More variable here because generally we don’t have year round school. My cousins have year round school. There are longer breaks during the year. No gap for 10 weeks where you are looking for care and kids fall behind. I’d be supportive so I have no idea what PP is on about.

I am PP and I don’t have a problem with year round school either. But it would mean we had school either during July or August and lots of parents at my school already complain about cutting their European vacations short because school starts in mid-August. And if parents want year round, which I believe is the same number of instructional days, then lobby politicians to change it. But what the other poster was claiming was we should work 12 months a year and work 12 months a year.

I am he pp who suggested, if teachers don't get paid to work 12 months, then maybe we should go to year round.

And I am totally going to call the other pp on "perks". I just checked our school calendar. In total, teachers get 16 "early release" days, 16 holidays/"non school" days, one two week winter break (ten total days), one spring break (six total days) and a nine and a half week summer (47 days).

Out of a full working year - 262 days - teachers have 87 days off, which equates to one third of a year. I know teachers who get paid 70K a year. To basically take one third of the year off. So please don't tell me about how corporates have it so good and teachers don't. We all get perks. And we all have sucky parts of our jobs.

And what I was suggesting was a full time schedule, where you get paid your annual salary and are expected to be available 12 months out of the year to do your job minus the 40 days of holiday/"nonschool"/early release/break days.

Considering most corporate or other government folks get a total of 27 days or so off, I'd say you all would still be coming out ahead...

I'm happy to count "non-school" days, and "early release" days as days off, when I hear lawyers counting days that they aren't in court as days off.

[Anonymous]

I mean, we all agree FCPS sucks.

Some of us don't teach or live there, though!

[Anonymous]

Teacher Here!! I am so tired of the excuse that DL did not work. I understand some of the complaints at the ES and MS level, but if your child is in HS and distance learning did not work, it was because your kid did not do the assignments. The amount of parents I called and they were so surprised when I told them their kids were not doing any assignments or showing up to class was insane. How about you be a parent and make sure your kids does the assignments. I would say that about 90% of my standard level and 75% of my honors students did not do the assignments. At a certain point I stopped calling because it was a waste of my time. Making grades optional was a huge mistake and by making assignments count in the Fall DL will make the process better. However, if you choose DL or we have to return to DL at some point parents will have to do more for distance learning. Check SIS and make sure your kids are completing assignments, which is something you should be doing already.

All that said I want to go back, I am a young healthy teacher and I feel safe, but I understand why older teachers do not and DL can be effective, but your kid has to take control of his own education or they are going to do poor in college anyway. College is not hard, it is just that kids don't spend time studying. In school I spend 60% of my time keep kids on task and 40% teaching. This is the sad truth, but DL can work the kids just have to mature. I teach 10 graders btw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

That is what happens in other countries. More variable here because generally we don’t have year round school. My cousins have year round school. There are longer breaks during the year. No gap for 10 weeks where you are looking for care and kids fall behind. I’d be supportive so I have no idea what PP is on about.

I am PP and I don’t have a problem with year round school either. But it would mean we had school either during July or August and lots of parents at my school already complain about cutting their European vacations short because school starts in mid-August. And if parents want year round, which I believe is the same number of instructional days, then lobby politicians to change it. But what the other poster was claiming was we should work 12 months a year and work 12 months a year.

I am he pp who suggested, if teachers don't get paid to work 12 months, then maybe we should go to year round.

And I am totally going to call the other pp on "perks". I just checked our school calendar. In total, teachers get 16 "early release" days, 16 holidays/"non school" days, one two week winter break (ten total days), one spring break (six total days) and a nine and a half week summer (47 days).

Out of a full working year - 262 days - teachers have 87 days off, which equates to one third of a year. I know teachers who get paid 70K a year. To basically take one third of the year off. So please don't tell me about how corporates have it so good and teachers don't. We all get perks. And we all have sucky parts of our jobs.

And what I was suggesting was a full time schedule, where you get paid your annual salary and are expected to be available 12 months out of the year to do your job minus the 40 days of holiday/"nonschool"/early release/break days.

Considering most corporate or other government folks get a total of 27 days or so off, I'd say you all would still be coming out ahead...

I'm happy to count "non-school" days, and "early release" days as days off, when I hear lawyers counting days that they aren't in court as days off.

You do know that lawyers work in offices, right? I don't think that is equal to you hanging about the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this.

Those of us in the professional world are managing ourselves via zoom or goto meetings.

To the PP who hasn't done anything because there hasn't been any direction: why on earth would you wait until the last minute to figure out how YOU are going to handle this? Why aren't you working out some options for teaching the content that you, presumably, teach every year?

I get that kids are different animals than adults - sure they are. But DL does NOT need to be that hard.

Frankly, if these kids can play those effing first person shooter games and the like for HOURS on end, it's time for the excuses that DL can't work to STOP. They are MORE than happy to be on their computers for five hours a day. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to acknowledge that this portion of this generation - and their teachers - are going to have to ADAPT.

Create a syllabus, create expectations (Larla must be present and paying attention on the zoom, just as she would be expected to in class, or there are consequences), and deliver the education you are being paid to deliver.

Is it optimal? Perhaps not. Will some kids struggle? Undoubtedly. Might some kids have to be left back, because of x, y, or z, reason? Possibly. But it's time for teachers to stop whining about what they CAN'T do, and figure out the alternative options they CAN offer.

FFS.

You would think that our educators would have a wealth of both creative and critical thinking skills. Figure it out, people.

You're making a lot of assumptions here. I teach elementary self-contained special education. Why would I create a syllabus? That's totally developmentally inappropriate. I also have no ability to set expectations. That's up to the district and my administration. I can't just demand that all students do x without the directive coming from above. If my administration says that students can just log in and write "I hate school!" on google classroom and that counts as their daily attendance, then that's the policy. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring, so telling me that it was poorly done and inadequate is meaningless. You don't have any evidence either way. Likewise, I could say that you were inept and unwilling to support your child's learning throughout DL, but I don't have any information to back that up. That's why I would never make a baseless claim like that about another person's work ethic.

You're also wrong to suggest that I should be working throughout the summer to better meet your expectations in the fall. You have no idea what I did with my class in the spring. We are ten month employees, and we do not get paid for the two months that school is not in attendance. Anything that I do over the summer is on my time and is absolutely voluntary. I don't owe parents, students, or administrators a single minute of my summer. Districts that want teachers to participate in specific trainings have the option of offering them paid on a per session basis, and they do so. We have not been offered that. For people who think that teachers should just "love students" so much that money is not important, please stop arguing that you need to go back to work in the fall. Do you not "love" your own children so much that your salary is of no consequence at all? One would expect parents would have a higher bar for love of children than teachers, and they should be able to just cast aside their own material needs. No? Then pay me for MY work.

If you allow your child to play shooting games for hours each day that then you should really take a look in the mirror-that's really abysmal parenting.

First of all, all one has to do is go to the tweens and teens page to see just how many kids are being permitted boatloads of screen time - FPS games or otherwise, you tube, tik tok, etc. I don't personally subscribe to this approach - but what I am saying is that these kids have zero problem being on their screens for hours on end. If it is necessary, then this tendency/preference/ability needs to be harnessed for their learning in such a dire time as this.

As to your point about the very specific niche in which you teach? Maybe those are the situations for which F2F learning is reserved.

As to the bolded above, I should hope that is not the case and, if so, those making such directives should be fired.

And, finally, to your point about being a 10 month contract worker, well, maybe it's time to revamp the education system and go to a year round format, since you seem to think that you aren't paid for your work. Oh, and, PLENTY of us do what's above and beyond our 40 hour workweek - without compensation. How many professionals do you hear say: oops, I just hit 40 hours, sorry boss, no can do, gonna have to let that deadline slip. Yeah right. We work nights, weekends, early mornings, vacations. So, cry me a river on that one - teachers don''t deserve such special treatment when the rest of the professional world has to manage their work to meet the expectations of their clients.

If you want to lobby politicians and school boards to revamp school to year round, go ahead and do so. But then remember when you want to spend July and August at your beach house with your kids they will be docked for missing school. Until this change happens, I will work for ten months a year, as contracted. I work over 40 hours a week consistently. I know lots of feds who work exactly 40 hours a week no matter what. So stop acting like every job puts in insane hours. I am not, however, working two months out of the year that I don't get paid.

Maybe I am misunderstanding year-round school, but, I thought the schedule typically includes the same number of instructional days, just broken up differently so that there is not a long break in the summer? Is that incorrect?

That is what happens in other countries. More variable here because generally we don’t have year round school. My cousins have year round school. There are longer breaks during the year. No gap for 10 weeks where you are looking for care and kids fall behind. I’d be supportive so I have no idea what PP is on about.

I am PP and I don’t have a problem with year round school either. But it would mean we had school either during July or August and lots of parents at my school already complain about cutting their European vacations short because school starts in mid-August. And if parents want year round, which I believe is the same number of instructional days, then lobby politicians to change it. But what the other poster was claiming was we should work 12 months a year and work 12 months a year.

I am he pp who suggested, if teachers don't get paid to work 12 months, then maybe we should go to year round.

And I am totally going to call the other pp on "perks". I just checked our school calendar. In total, teachers get 16 "early release" days, 16 holidays/"non school" days, one two week winter break (ten total days), one spring break (six total days) and a nine and a half week summer (47 days).

Out of a full working year - 262 days - teachers have 87 days off, which equates to one third of a year. I know teachers who get paid 70K a year. To basically take one third of the year off. So please don't tell me about how corporates have it so good and teachers don't. We all get perks. And we all have sucky parts of our jobs.

And what I was suggesting was a full time schedule, where you get paid your annual salary and are expected to be available 12 months out of the year to do your job minus the 40 days of holiday/"nonschool"/early release/break days.

Considering most corporate or other government folks get a total of 27 days or so off, I'd say you all would still be coming out ahead...

I'm happy to count "non-school" days, and "early release" days as days off, when I hear lawyers counting days that they aren't in court as days off.

Why is that? Are you working on those days/times? Educate me, if I am unaware.

But, even if I back those out (a total of 12 days, accounting for early release as a half day), teachers average 28% of the year off. For some of the salaries I am aware of? I just can't justify the attitude I see proclaiming that summer - and this summer, in particular - is sacrosanct and no initiative should have been taken to figure out how to best handle DL.