Disparities in quantity/quality of distance learning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This conversation is exhausting:

In theory, live classes are best when using Zoom. DCPS does not allow schools to use Zoom for live instruction. According to DCUM, ALL THE SCHOOLS are using Zoom- lies. We have to use TEAMS. It keeps us safe (teachers and children). This is not a union fighting to allow teachers to be even lazier - as perceived by so many of you darlings.

A TEAMS meeting with 26 kids is a waste of time. However, I'm more than happy to have a morning meeting where I mute everyone and talk at the kids. If parents so desperately need me to talk at kids for an hour or heck, five hours a day, fine. But I have the capacity to talk at- not differentiate, not ask for opinions. There will be zero discussion. Oh, and because I teach younger children- YOU parent will have to sit with YOUR child as I talk at the screen for 1-5 hours.

Or you can take the daily pre-recorded videos, accept that the best instruction is during small groups and shut up.

You wish you were in boundary at my school

And yet, somehow, private schools -- and some public schools -- make it work.

DC PUBLIC.SCHOOLS.CANT.USE.ZOOM for the love of Jesus. CAN’T=CANNOT as in NOT AUTHORIZED. Sounds like some DC schools or teachers are going rouge? Good luck when a pedophile bombs a morning meeting.

Ha ha. All your posts say the same thing. And it’s not even true! That’s amazing. I hope you don’t teach at my kid’s school.

You wish you were in boundary at my school. You sound bitter.

No PP but I don't think they sound bitter at all. You are the one yelling in all caps about a policy that is not true. And you sound immature.

[Anonymous]

There's a lot of variabilities across even the WOTP DCPS schools - having relatives at a couple, so we have some sense of comparison. Our school has (unfortunately) left it up to the different grades & teachers to determine what they are doing - so some teachers and grades are having much stronger experiences than others. Some of the teachers have done fun, engaging wrap around projects and things that have engaged kids. One of the teachers for one of my kids has essentially checked out completely. A school where cousins go have multiple Zooms (yes fully ok'ed for teachers & schools to use with password etc protections) a day, and the teachers have mostly figured out how to keep it as engaging as possible - and the principal took it upon themselves to figure out how to get every single kid a computer and internet access as needed.
The kids we know at big 3 type privates are getting a lot more intense experiences - a lot more scheduled classes and engagement and individual attention (and they are paying $40K plus a year).
And like the WaPo story earlier this week detailed, there are lots of schools around the city where there are a lot different and bigger problems. And the overall DCPS system is trying to deal with the hardest problems the most - and so they haven't been as concerned about the #Ward3 problems to the same degree, setting some standards & then more hands off.
But do know there is variability and some of the DCPS schools are doing much better than others - which gives standards and ideas to push for within your own school for when fall rolls around...

[Anonymous]

I'm happy with the math and literacy instruction our DCPS is giving our 3rd grader. Where I feel let down is the specials. My kindergartner's DCPS is doing a fantastic job with everything. Special teachers have their own meeting and are offering a variety of projects.

[Anonymous]

other countries are starting to reopen schools, so maybe distance learning will soon become a bad memory...


https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/world/europe/reopen-schools-germany.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Seriously? Now we've had enough dead people to get used to it, so we should just be ticking along?

I don't think that's what they are saying. I think they are saying that we need to start assuming that DL will be part of our routine in the fall and proactively adjust to that reality.

Everyone is on edge. There has been a lot of confusion. Teachers don't know what parents have been doing and parents don't know what the teachers have been doing. The oppositional and holier than thou crap from both sides needs to stop. Neither group is the other group's servant. Both groups have the same goal.

Okay, I think that's fair. (And thank you for de-escalating.)

I think there's a difference between what distance learning looks like for the next three weeks and what a more principled and thought-out version of it might look like in fall. And I really don't believe it's reasonable to expect dramatic changes to practices before the end of the school year.

I'm reacting to what I see as pretty vocal criticisms of educators who are (like all of us), doing their best, and I wish we could cut them some slack. When I think about what's "good enough" I'm also thinking about it from the perspective of the teacher with three kids who is juggling a full time job with childcare and figuring out how to do that in a small space with limited resources. And I think if parents DO want to speak up about improvements to distance learning, they also need to speak up about ensuring educators have resources to do it -- if that means hiring technology support for the district, or providing teachers with more equipment, supplementing teaching staff to accommodate folks who have caregiver roles (in a way that is fair to everyone).

I agree, there's not much that can be changed for this school year. I know that I as a parent have been holding my tongue about the many problems both technical and substantive because I empathize with the difficulties everyone is facing. But these things do need to be fixed going forward because it has been a lost three months. It is what is and we need a lot more communication and collaboration over the summer. Yes it's more work for everyone but there is no other way to make this successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a lot of variabilities across even the WOTP DCPS schools - having relatives at a couple, so we have some sense of comparison. Our school has (unfortunately) left it up to the different grades & teachers to determine what they are doing - so some teachers and grades are having much stronger experiences than others. Some of the teachers have done fun, engaging wrap around projects and things that have engaged kids. One of the teachers for one of my kids has essentially checked out completely. A school where cousins go have multiple Zooms (yes fully ok'ed for teachers & schools to use with password etc protections) a day, and the teachers have mostly figured out how to keep it as engaging as possible - and the principal took it upon themselves to figure out how to get every single kid a computer and internet access as needed.
The kids we know at big 3 type privates are getting a lot more intense experiences - a lot more scheduled classes and engagement and individual attention (and they are paying $40K plus a year).
And like the WaPo story earlier this week detailed, there are lots of schools around the city where there are a lot different and bigger problems. And the overall DCPS system is trying to deal with the hardest problems the most - and so they haven't been as concerned about the #Ward3 problems to the same degree, setting some standards & then more hands off.
But do know there is variability and some of the DCPS schools are doing much better than others - which gives standards and ideas to push for within your own school for when fall rolls around...

Is this only for older kids? I can't imagine 7yos being on Zoom all day, private or not.

We have a friend with a kid at one of the $40K schools--kid is in middle school and apparently has classes all day from like 8:30-2:30. I wonder how they made that work for teachers with young kids to care for? Did they tell them they just need to find childcare? Are they supplementing teachers' income to afford childcare? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy with the math and literacy instruction our DCPS is giving our 3rd grader. Where I feel let down is the specials. My kindergartner's DCPS is doing a fantastic job with everything. Special teachers have their own meeting and are offering a variety of projects.

Our school just started doing specials online, with two weeks left of learning. So pointless.

Math instruction is basically videos and problem sets, with a daily Zoom meeting for kids who want additional help or enrichment. But honestly, it's working for my kid, and it takes less time, so I'm not complaining. The literacy stuff was rough at first, and I'd like more feedback on the writing my kid does, but they are reading the stories that go with the unit (fairy tales and folk tales) and writing their own stories in a guided process, so that's not so bad. The social studies/science curriculum is pretty sad -- some of the apps are fine, but there's no in-person instruction or meaningful projects that the kids can do on their own. I'm hoping that with some time to plan, that can be a little better.