Teacher Question: Concurrent Teaching and Supervising Other Students

[Anonymous]

I am also high school teacher. My school says they will not have the cohort model, so students need to change classes. If a teacher in my department is not in the building those students have to go to my classroom or another classroom with a teacher in that department. Each department has been asked to figure it out on their own.

So, theoretically, I will my students in the room, students virtual, plus random students from other courses.

Oh yeah, they want an A-week / B-week system too.

Total bullshit.

My impression is that they are expecting a lot of kids to just stay home and not bother to come in and deal with it.

[Anonymous]

I will be teaching simultaneously starting March 15th. No one can really tell me how to do it or what it should look like. The principal.got tired of explaining it and sent UA a YouTube video of it being done but they had two other support staff members there. We will not have much support staff. I will try my best. That is all I can do. I bought a special camera to film me teaching for the virtual student's and a headset. I am bringing my Macbook because Chromebooks are trash. I am going to take some Chromebooks and log into my zoom and practice until it makes sense on Tuesday. Monday is for meeting's and hour a of training for learning how to wash our hands, wear a mask and help children find their mentally healthy center.🙄🙄

[Anonymous]

I just learned that I will be pushing IN to a classroom, and teaching my students there while also teaching my virtual students... while the classroom teacher is teaching HER students.

This is because I do not have a classroom big enough to bring any students at all (I teach in a closet basically).

My other option will be to pull my in person students out into the hallway, but internet access is spotty there.

The third option is just not to take my in person students at the same time anymore as my virtual students, but to do that I will have to reduce my class time from 30 minutes per grade level to 20 minutes per grade level, which will make it obvious to the parents who chose to stay virtual that their child is receiving less ESOL instruction than before.

I am looking hard for a fourth solution.

[Anonymous]

I'm an ESOL teacher and I'll be an assistant in a classroom in a grade I don't teach. They need two adults in each classroom. I'll still need to teach my students online while assisting the classroom teacher. I'll take over teaching the ESOL students coming back in person in her classroom so I'll have even more students. I may also need to teach her virtual ESOL students too.

[Anonymous]

Why do they need two adults in each classroom??

[Anonymous]

Not being snarky, trying to help (we have one in public one in private). Talk to teachers in private school, who have been in hybrid model since September. Half the class in the classroom, half the class at home, every day, all year.

I recognize the size of the classroom is significantly different between public and private, but my guess is the learning curve is similar. Ask your private school colleagues for tips, and how they've managed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, trying to help (we have one in public one in private). Talk to teachers in private school, who have been in hybrid model since September. Half the class in the classroom, half the class at home, every day, all year.

I recognize the size of the classroom is significantly different between public and private, but my guess is the learning curve is similar. Ask your private school colleagues for tips, and how they've managed.

If you looked at above feed a private school teacher said it was a disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, trying to help (we have one in public one in private). Talk to teachers in private school, who have been in hybrid model since September. Half the class in the classroom, half the class at home, every day, all year.

I recognize the size of the classroom is significantly different between public and private, but my guess is the learning curve is similar. Ask your private school colleagues for tips, and how they've managed.

If you looked at above feed a private school teacher said it was a disaster.

Yep, at 07:01, but this is where PP will say Catholic schools are different from real private schools and real private schools are effortlessly doing hybrid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do they need two adults in each classroom??

They need two people so the teacher can actually teach and not open everything for breakfast, lunch, log into computers, fix computer issues. etc. I also cover for the teacher during her break and lunch. I have to take the kids for bathroom breaks. They don't want kids going into the bathroom and mixing with kids from other classes. The younger students need a lot more help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, trying to help (we have one in public one in private). Talk to teachers in private school, who have been in hybrid model since September. Half the class in the classroom, half the class at home, every day, all year.

I recognize the size of the classroom is significantly different between public and private, but my guess is the learning curve is similar. Ask your private school colleagues for tips, and how they've managed.

If you looked at above feed a private school teacher said it was a disaster.

Not a disaster at our private school - has been great. They also switched to distance learning last March very quickly
and easily when you compare to public. And, size and scale probably has a lot to do with it. But not every hybrid situation has been a disaster, some has been really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not being snarky, trying to help (we have one in public one in private). Talk to teachers in private school, who have been in hybrid model since September. Half the class in the classroom, half the class at home, every day, all year.

I recognize the size of the classroom is significantly different between public and private, but my guess is the learning curve is similar. Ask your private school colleagues for tips, and how they've managed.

If you looked at above feed a private school teacher said it was a disaster.

And they have half the kids per class. It doesn’t even compare, and it is still an extraordinary amount of work for the teachers to pull off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a high school teacher and have been excited to get back in the building. The idea of concurrent teaching has been difficult to swallow, but I got to a place that I have to do, what I have to do, and I’ll figure it out.

Our school was not able to hire enough monitors to cover for all teachers not returning for ADA reasons or lack of childcare. I believe that even if they had enough monitors, they never thought we would be in person, so created a virtual schedule where we had more classes than classrooms. For these reasons teachers returning will now be supervising students of teachers not returning, while they attend the virtual teachers class.

So I will learn to teach concurrently while having the distraction of other students in the room who I am supervising.

Is this what schools are doing? It just doesn’t feel right. I’m trying to stay positive, but this has thrown me for a loop and I’m really upset by it.

Yes. Put your big boy/girl pants on and suck it up. People have been doing concurrent for years. I had a class over video when I was in high school as a way of getting broader course selections to rural schools. This was before high-speed internet, too- they did it over microwave links. When I went to college, some classes had students joining online. I have friends that have been teaching concurrently at private schools all year.

Yes. It's harder. Suck it up. It's a pandemic, remember? A lot of people are having to work harder. Particularly parents, who have had to make up for teachers fighting the reopening of public schools for a year now. You can handle a few months.

[Anonymous]

If kids aren't vaccinated by the next school year, this mess could continue. Then they'll see an even bigger wave of teachers saying "No way" and leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If kids aren't vaccinated by the next school year, this mess could continue. Then they'll see an even bigger wave of teachers saying "No way" and leaving.

Kids won't be vaccinated. Certainly not young kids. Good riddance to any teachers that continue to be obstinate. If enough leave, then we'll be able to tear down the current system and rebuild it better.

That being said, we're not going to see that. As we've seen everywhere else, teachers overwhelmingly return, despite their threats, since a $70k+ salary with health/vision/dental insurance and a generous pension are going to be tough for them to replace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If kids aren't vaccinated by the next school year, this mess could continue. Then they'll see an even bigger wave of teachers saying "No way" and leaving.

Kids won't be vaccinated. Certainly not young kids. Good riddance to any teachers that continue to be obstinate. If enough leave, then we'll be able to tear down the current system and rebuild it better.

That being said, we're not going to see that. As we've seen everywhere else, teachers overwhelmingly return, despite their threats, since a $70k+ salary with health/vision/dental insurance and a generous pension are going to be tough for them to replace.

Quite a few people returning this year in my district do not plan to return next year. Those are mostly “early” retirements of people who have 30 years in, but are in their 50s or early 60s so they can’t get full SS yet. There are also people who are novices or were career changers with only 5 years invested who can go back to school or return to their previous field.