What changes did the teacher's union make?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There cannot be a real conversation about these issues as long as the loudest parents claim there was no teaching. It obliterates the hard work of teachers who went above and beyond every day.

I wrote about this before. DCUM posts were so negative that I started to feel paranoid that my parents were lying when they thanked me. Maybe they really thought I did nothing? Did that mean that they thanked me because they also thought if they didn’t I would retaliate in some way? It was really upsetting.

In the experience of my high school kid, for some teachers, there really was no teaching. Really. They did nothing other than post a few things on Google Classroom. Meanwhile, other teachers worked very hard. If I had to generalize, I'd say that the teachers who didn't do much at school also did little or nothing last spring, and the teachers who worked hard at school also worked hard last spring.

If you're a teacher who works hard - well, you know your colleagues. You know who works and who doesn't.

+1. English teacher posted 5 assignments total for Q4, three of which were sub-parts of same assignment - brainstorm/outline, first draft and final draft of paper.

French teacher did not post any assignments for Q3 from end of Feb for rest of Q3. Kids got a Q3 grade for material done prior to end of Feb.

Other teachers posted more work - science and math and AP teachers mostly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:During the spring, I am pretty sure the union stepped in to state that HS were not required to teaching with synchronous video instruction. I think it was the right call. For me personally, I was not able to get a laptop or a webcam for my desktop until mid May. Having kids at home was also a challenge teaching. The online teaching I did see often was just reading powerpoints and asking students the occasional questions, so I am not of the opinion that synchronus video instruction would be automatically better than kids being able to process info or stop video's to repeat instructions. If learning is dependent on synchonus instruction than students who as are not in class at the time may have no easy way to learn or catch up.

Will you have someone to watch your kids if there is DL in the fall? That is one of the questions I keep asking and haven't heard any answers.

Yes, I personally will not be watching kids while working in the fall. However, I think that misses the point. You are worried about the quality of instruction in Fall.

Unfortunately, there is little support for getting ready. We should be preparing to deliver lessons that incorporate best practices for online education. Teachers should organized into teams and dividing work so each teacher doesn't have to create an entire online curriculum on their own. However, most teachers I know are working their second (summer) job, providing childcare, and aren't totally sure what they'll be teaching in Fall. No guidance has been provided on how or what to prepare.

I'm preparing, but I have the luxury to do so. Also, I recognize that even though I'm preparing for one thing (e.g. 4th grade or Algebra) I might get switched to something else (e.g. 5th or Geometry). Prep needs to be led by administrators and leaders, people need to be told what to get ready for, help (financial, training, childcare) needs to be provided so people can spend time preparing, but it's not happening.

There are different points. I am asking about the quality of the instruction and completely agree with you that more needs to be centralized so that every teacher isn't on his or her own. That is absurd!

The childcare issue is separate, but one I have seen come up repeatedly, even before COVID. For example, there can't be flexibility with making snow days because teachers should not have to arrange for childcare if they have to work on a day that is a holiday in another county. For the teachers who don't want to return to the classroom in the fall (and I have no issue with this), I have been wondering if they will be required to arrange for childcare during the time they will be providing DL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There cannot be a real conversation about these issues as long as the loudest parents claim there was no teaching. It obliterates the hard work of teachers who went above and beyond every day.

I wrote about this before. DCUM posts were so negative that I started to feel paranoid that my parents were lying when they thanked me. Maybe they really thought I did nothing? Did that mean that they thanked me because they also thought if they didn’t I would retaliate in some way? It was really upsetting.

In the experience of my high school kid, for some teachers, there really was no teaching. Really. They did nothing other than post a few things on Google Classroom. Meanwhile, other teachers worked very hard. If I had to generalize, I'd say that the teachers who didn't do much at school also did little or nothing last spring, and the teachers who worked hard at school also worked hard last spring.

If you're a teacher who works hard - well, you know your colleagues. You know who works and who doesn't.

+1. English teacher posted 5 assignments total for Q4, three of which were sub-parts of same assignment - brainstorm/outline, first draft and final draft of paper.

French teacher did not post any assignments for Q3 from end of Feb for rest of Q3. Kids got a Q3 grade for material done prior to end of Feb.

Other teachers posted more work - science and math and AP teachers mostly.

The French teacher followed the rules. I hate to say it, but she did. Teachers were allowed to add UP to two additional grades to represent what was learned by 3/13 IF it helped students’ grades. So if she just started a new verb family on say on 3/2, she might have tested on 3/9. If most students got a test grade that lowered their overall quarter grade, she was not supposed to count it. That means that even if you child got 89.4% on that test, it had to discarded if it pulled him down from an A to a B.