Our Zoom Teacher Keeps Her Camera Off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem because MCPS is providing internet for the those who don't have it.

DD's teacher is doing this in summer school too. Parents are very annoyed and it's unprofessional. I understand if she needs to do it sometimes due to her having her own kids at home or some other issue that comes up but to do it as a matter of policy is pretty lazy.

It’s like no one here understands technology. It doesn’t matter who’s paying for the internet service at someone’s house, there are simply going to be times when the available bandwidth will vary and the connection can become unstable. In those circumstances, it makes sense for a teacher to turn of their video, with the idea that the audio will work better and is the more important of the two.

I'm a teacher and used a mifi hotspot provided by MCPS during the spring, for a short time, while I was waiting to get my own service in my new apartment. It was a little faster than dial-up. A little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem because MCPS is providing internet for the those who don't have it.

DD's teacher is doing this in summer school too. Parents are very annoyed and it's unprofessional. I understand if she needs to do it sometimes due to her having her own kids at home or some other issue that comes up but to do it as a matter of policy is pretty lazy.

It’s like no one here understands technology. It doesn’t matter who’s paying for the internet service at someone’s house, there are simply going to be times when the available bandwidth will vary and the connection can become unstable. In those circumstances, it makes sense for a teacher to turn of their video, with the idea that the audio will work better and is the more important of the two.

Don’t you know that everything that is taught for the next year will be scrutinized to the highest degree with parents in the background watching every move.
Slow WiFi? Teacher fault Camera off? Terrible teacher Not enough instructional time? Terrible teacher Too much instructional time? terrible teacher Can’t return the way my family seems best? Teacher fault too. There is no winning I’m beginning to see. make sure to go directly to admin or post to social media before reaching out to the source of concern who is the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem because MCPS is providing internet for the those who don't have it.

DD's teacher is doing this in summer school too. Parents are very annoyed and it's unprofessional. I understand if she needs to do it sometimes due to her having her own kids at home or some other issue that comes up but to do it as a matter of policy is pretty lazy.

It’s like no one here understands technology. It doesn’t matter who’s paying for the internet service at someone’s house, there are simply going to be times when the available bandwidth will vary and the connection can become unstable. In those circumstances, it makes sense for a teacher to turn of their video, with the idea that the audio will work better and is the more important of the two.

+1

[Anonymous]

OP did you ever find out what happened?

[Anonymous]

There should not be tech issues with a normal-size class and average routers and even low-ish internet speeds.

I've seen real problems with my child's online orchestra meetings with 100+ people on Zoom! There they have to mute and close cameras for everyone except the speaker otherwise it doesn't work. If they're just their own ensemble, about 60-70 people, they can still use their cameras.

So please contact the teacher. My teen and his classmates don't like to use their cameras either, which is allowed by the teacher, but I consider it rude. Everyone should be visible to everyone, for greater accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem because MCPS is providing internet for the those who don't have it.

DD's teacher is doing this in summer school too. Parents are very annoyed and it's unprofessional. I understand if she needs to do it sometimes due to her having her own kids at home or some other issue that comes up but to do it as a matter of policy is pretty lazy.

It’s like no one here understands technology. It doesn’t matter who’s paying for the internet service at someone’s house, there are simply going to be times when the available bandwidth will vary and the connection can become unstable. In those circumstances, it makes sense for a teacher to turn of their video, with the idea that the audio will work better and is the more important of the two.

I'm a teacher and used a mifi hotspot provided by MCPS during the spring, for a short time, while I was waiting to get my own service in my new apartment. It was a little faster than dial-up. A little.

Those mobile mini hotspots are honestly the WORST.

I feel for the teachers. This is just another thing some parents are using to criticize them for, it seems. Why not email the teacher and ask instead of speculating on here?

[Anonymous]

I remember a column online that recommended people cope with their body dysmorphia by turning off the camera. The columnist was not speaking specifically to teachers, but people who were WAH in general and experiencing a lot of anxiety.

I do not have body dysmorphia, but I am much less nervous when I can’t see myself.

Even little kids are accustomed to celebrity voice over narration for films and commercials. Unless a child is DHOH and relying on lip reading the teacher (unlikely), I think it’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? I’m a teacher, it would never have crossed my mind to keep my camera off during a lesson. Your child has had three classes, right? Maybe she has a baby who needed to be breastfed at the worst possible time? (If that had been me, I would have come up with some explanation for the kids and emailed parents immediately after the class, but that’s me.)

I would see what happens in the next class. If it happens again, I would email her. I’d probably go with a “don’t know if you know this but your camera is off” route. If the response indicates that she is intentionally keeping it off and plans to continue to do so, I would probably stop sending my kid to the class and let the principal know that, given the likelihood of continued DL this fall, my child wouldn’t do well in this teacher’s class for this reason.

To other parents reading this, please know that most teachers really are trying to think of ways to make DL better than it was this spring. We did what we could with what we had (no autonomy, no preparation); the fall will be better.

Very sweet!❤

[Anonymous]

The teacher is going to read this and be like "oh yea, it was the bandwidth." 😩

[Anonymous]

Another teacher here....

I get that some have better technology than others. However, teaching summer school was optional. The vacancy page said that they were looking for people who had reliable access to internet, had success already implementing distance learning and were available to teach. I read that to mean that, if you weren't able to really commit to teaching at an effective level due to childcare issues, lack of understanding of distance learning or reliable internet, don't apply.

I really think everyone had to have patience and grace in the spring. It was thrown on all of us. By the point, we need to have some of this down already. If a teacher can't have her screen on for whatever reason (unless there was an isolated incident), she shouldn't have volunteered to do summer school.

I agree with a previous poster to reach out to the teacher first. If the response isn't reasonable, reach out to the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another teacher here....

I get that some have better technology than others. However, teaching summer school was optional. The vacancy page said that they were looking for people who had reliable access to internet, had success already implementing distance learning and were available to teach. I read that to mean that, if you weren't able to really commit to teaching at an effective level due to childcare issues, lack of understanding of distance learning or reliable internet, don't apply.

I really think everyone had to have patience and grace in the spring. It was thrown on all of us. By the point, we need to have some of this down already. If a teacher can't have her screen on for whatever reason (unless there was an isolated incident), she shouldn't have volunteered to do summer school.

I agree with a previous poster to reach out to the teacher first. If the response isn't reasonable, reach out to the principal.

Or she volunteered correctly, but any number of things have since impacted her bandwidth access or her computer. My webcam died on the second day of a course I took in late June. The rest of the computer was perfectly fine. It seemed silly to replace it just so other people could see my ugly mug. They could still hear my voice and view my screen when I shared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem because MCPS is providing internet for the those who don't have it.

DD's teacher is doing this in summer school too. Parents are very annoyed and it's unprofessional. I understand if she needs to do it sometimes due to her having her own kids at home or some other issue that comes up but to do it as a matter of policy is pretty lazy.

Despite what you are saying, bandwidth remains an issue. I don't have explanations because that is not my area of expertise. Most of my students are on chromebooks and they are overall a terrible fit for virtual learning. Perhaps that's the issue. Wifi strength varies and MCPS can't control for that, particularly when there may be several children and parents home and using the internet at the same time. Others in the home may be streaming video, on zoom, etc. I'm guessing that's part of the issue. It is much more difficult on my end to not have cameras on, but sometimes that is the only way to hear one another smoothly.

[Anonymous]

Howard County specifically had no more than 20 students on each session. If the teacher had more students, they were supposed to set up multiple sessions for the same presentation. Some teachers had as many as four sessions for the same class, but since they were only meeting with students twice per week, it was manageable. It will be more difficult in the fall when there will be 4x4 learning (four subjects per days with new material four days per week and one day of asynchronous learning (e.g. videos and assignments are posted and students are on their own schedule for watching videos and completing work). Not sure how they will handle larger classes.

In any event, HCPS mandates that the teacher keep the video on and the students keep video on. It was said that if students did not leave their video on and the teacher was able to see them, that students would not be credited with attending that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another teacher here....

I get that some have better technology than others. However, teaching summer school was optional. The vacancy page said that they were looking for people who had reliable access to internet, had success already implementing distance learning and were available to teach. I read that to mean that, if you weren't able to really commit to teaching at an effective level due to childcare issues, lack of understanding of distance learning or reliable internet, don't apply.

I really think everyone had to have patience and grace in the spring. It was thrown on all of us. By the point, we need to have some of this down already. If a teacher can't have her screen on for whatever reason (unless there was an isolated incident), she shouldn't have volunteered to do summer school.

I agree with a previous poster to reach out to the teacher first. If the response isn't reasonable, reach out to the principal.

Teachers who are DL need to invest in some better equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another teacher here....

I get that some have better technology than others. However, teaching summer school was optional. The vacancy page said that they were looking for people who had reliable access to internet, had success already implementing distance learning and were available to teach. I read that to mean that, if you weren't able to really commit to teaching at an effective level due to childcare issues, lack of understanding of distance learning or reliable internet, don't apply.

I really think everyone had to have patience and grace in the spring. It was thrown on all of us. By the point, we need to have some of this down already. If a teacher can't have her screen on for whatever reason (unless there was an isolated incident), she shouldn't have volunteered to do summer school.

I agree with a previous poster to reach out to the teacher first. If the response isn't reasonable, reach out to the principal.

Teachers who are DL need to invest in some better equipment.

The school system should provide it. Teachers already gave school districts 3 months of their electricity and internet. Some had to buy printers to make materials.