I think it’s really sad that MCPS did not use the eclipse as a learning opportunity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know if MCPS gave all the kids eclipse glasses and had a mass viewing, parents would be on here complaining about that today.

Sounds like there's no need to consider parent feedback or suggestions, because MCPS parents will complain no matter what you do. Got it. As an ex-teacher and MCPS parent, this is the attitude I encounter from my kids' schools, and I find it infuriating.

I find it infuriating that parents will complain no matter what they do. That should be clear to anyone who follows this site.

This is exactly right. I'm a frequent critic of MCPS but criticizing them for deciding to leave this up to individual schools is ridiculous. FWIW, our school's PTA bought glasses for everyone and kids were brought outside to watch the eclipse. A friend I talked to in another part of the county said their ES did the same. For you complainers, what efforts did you make to help bring about a different result?
Did you work with your school's PTA to ask the principal to consider a school-wide event? Did you organize a parent fundraiser to ensure that every student had a pair of eclipse glasses? Or did you just whine about it after the fact?

Many PTA's don't have that kid of money, just the rich schools. But, OP could have donated for her class, grade or school.

[Anonymous]

I work at a school in a low income area with no PTA. Our school did nothing. It was sad. I agree with op, this is what learning should be about, not worksheets and standardized tests. No wonder kids dislike school, it’s not fun anymore.

[Anonymous]

Guys, am I really the first person in this thread to need to point out that the partial eclipse was BOOOOORING and not going to inspire anyone’s dim child to become a scientist. For a full eclipse, we can talk. Good on MCPS for not making this a mandatory event.

[Anonymous]

I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know if MCPS gave all the kids eclipse glasses and had a mass viewing, parents would be on here complaining about that today.

Sounds like there's no need to consider parent feedback or suggestions, because MCPS parents will complain no matter what you do. Got it. As an ex-teacher and MCPS parent, this is the attitude I encounter from my kids' schools, and I find it infuriating.

I find it infuriating that parents will complain no matter what they do. That should be clear to anyone who follows this site.

This is exactly right. I'm a frequent critic of MCPS but criticizing them for deciding to leave this up to individual schools is ridiculous. FWIW, our school's PTA bought glasses for everyone and kids were brought outside to watch the eclipse. A friend I talked to in another part of the county said their ES did the same. For you complainers, what efforts did you make to help bring about a different result?
Did you work with your school's PTA to ask the principal to consider a school-wide event? Did you organize a parent fundraiser to ensure that every student had a pair of eclipse glasses? Or did you just whine about it after the fact?

Many PTA's don't have that kid of money, just the rich schools. But, OP could have donated for her class, grade or school.

My title 1 school’s PTA started a go fund me type thing for glasses in Feb and raised the money really quickly. Every kid K-5 who had a signed permission slip from parents got to go outside to watch; kids whose parents didn’t want them to watch didn’t the permission slips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

ALLLLL the time? Really? Sounds like you need to take a science class yourself. I'm sorry you don't seem intellectually curious, but other people are and you should want kids to be excited about events like this. It IS a big deal for people who do care about science. Partial or not, for many kids, this will be the closest they may ever get to viewing an eclipse. Wow, indeed. Do better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

Oh god, please don't lump teachers into your absurd take on this. We were more than happy to take the kids outside and view the eclipse after a mini lesson. They all wore their glasses appropriately and absolutely loved it. It required little to no additional work on our part. Even if it had, most of us wouldn't have minded because that's what we do-we TEACH. This was a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

ALLLLL the time? Really? Sounds like you need to take a science class yourself. I'm sorry you don't seem intellectually curious, but other people are and you should want kids to be excited about events like this. It IS a big deal for people who do care about science. Partial or not, for many kids, this will be the closest they may ever get to viewing an eclipse. Wow, indeed. Do better.

+1 what is another "major phenomena" happening in MD happening right now or soon that can be viewed from a school doorstep?

[Anonymous]

I agree, OP! Our ES doesn’t do anything fun anymore for the kids. And certainly doesn’t take advantage of unique learning opportunities. We even received a message saying all blinds would be closed during the eclipse. Sad…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

I feel sad you are so jaded and sorry for your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

Oh god, please don't lump teachers into your absurd take on this. We were more than happy to take the kids outside and view the eclipse after a mini lesson. They all wore their glasses appropriately and absolutely loved it. It required little to no additional work on our part. Even if it had, most of us wouldn't have minded because that's what we do-we TEACH. This was a great experience.

And yet plenty of teachers and principals did not do anything even though they were given autonomy to decide. And did kids love the eclipse or did they did it was cool for one moment and then move on. What most really loved was not being in class and being able to talk to their friends. As someone else noted, for most kids it was pretty boring after the first few moments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

ALLLLL the time? Really? Sounds like you need to take a science class yourself. I'm sorry you don't seem intellectually curious, but other people are and you should want kids to be excited about events like this. It IS a big deal for people who do care about science. Partial or not, for many kids, this will be the closest they may ever get to viewing an eclipse. Wow, indeed. Do better.

The next partial is in 4 years. It’s not a big deal. If you want the dictate what’s important then pull your kids from school and do it yourself. Quit whining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also think that its a shame the central office and all their curriculum development staff did nothing. I dont mean eclipse glasses. But a whole week of curriculum in science, math, english language and art tied to a once in a lifetime event for many kids. You dont even need to go outside if that hard. Watch the live NASA stream. But take this event thats easily observable in the US on some level and make an actual tied together lesson plan. FWIW, our PTA dod get glasses and our ES packed up at 2:30 and went out to watch and so did the aftercare program. But there was still a lack of actual lessons and every teacher was on their own there. We do units on presidents for presidents day, other holidays etc, why not here.

How old are your kids? Have you spent time in an actual science class? There is a whole unit on these phenomena in middle school science and astronomy in high school. This was only a partial. And these events happen allllll the time. Our earth rotates constantly! So does the moon! Breaking news!

This was really not a huge deal for Maryland. We could see a partial bit around the time school is out. There are major phenomena that happen on a daily basis around the world and even in Maryland. If you want our over worked teachers to do even MORE last minute, you are welcome to plan your own lessons and tell them they fell short yourself. Wow.

Oh god, please don't lump teachers into your absurd take on this. We were more than happy to take the kids outside and view the eclipse after a mini lesson. They all wore their glasses appropriately and absolutely loved it. It required little to no additional work on our part. Even if it had, most of us wouldn't have minded because that's what we do-we TEACH. This was a great experience.

And yet plenty of teachers and principals did not do anything even though they were given autonomy to decide. And did kids love the eclipse or did they did it was cool for one moment and then move on. What most really loved was not being in class and being able to talk to their friends. As someone else noted, for most kids it was pretty boring after the first few moments.

+1 they were more excited to be out of class.