DL - Teacher Burnout

[Anonymous]

I teach an early elementary grade and I’m starting to dread the thought of prolonged distance learning. What my team did in the spring went fairly well all things considered, but it was mostly asynchronous and seen as temporary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, what is your suggestion op? To short change the children's education even more by demanding less direct instruction time?

Open the schools to in person instruction. Problem solved!

As soon as the pandemic is over

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is burned out online. I'm in back to back meetings the whole day, and then back at it late at night because there is no line between work and home.

We need to solve this for everyone.

Agree. It is really difficult to be online all day, especially when you have to lead the meetings. It’s draining. Don’t underestimate this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, thank you for bringing this up, and I’d appreciate any advice or resources you would be willing to provide.

I found distance teaching enormously stressful and exhausting, even just during the single daily lessons in the spring. I have manageable anxiety (general and social), but the performative nature and knowing that the parents were watching/listening made teaching online so much more difficult than in person. Plus my families have no or limited English, there were major tech issues, etc.

OP, I also would appreciate any resources or advice. As a teacher I need to maintain my energy and enthusiasm... and I need to be able to guide my young students to do the same.

Obviously I realize we need to incorporate a lot of physical activity. My principal suggested that if it were safe, we should include activities for students to do outside if they have a backyard or some type of garden they can go to. It just isn't developmentally appropriate for small children to sit at a desk in front of a screen for hours at a time without breaks.

We need guidance! My district has a technology training team but they focus more on instructional resources for the classroom. None of them has ever actually distance-taught for 3 months as I have!

[Anonymous]

Lessons from China:

https://www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/insights/2020/apr/lessons-from-china-about-online-schooling.html

China’s shift to online learning was hurried and bumpy. In just three weeks, the Chinese government converted primary and secondary school textbooks and recorded instruction videos for key subjects such as math, Chinese, and English into new formats that could be accessed by Wi-Fi or television.

About 71 percent of teachers say their biggest challenge is gauging how effective their teaching has been, according to a recent survey of about 3,500 teachers conducted by Tencent and Xinhuanet. But this is not for want of effort. Almost 40 percent of China’s teachers spent at least six hours a day preparing for their next day’s lessons. Some sent 800 to 1,000 messages every day to the parents of typically 45 students in their classrooms.

Lessons For Educators

Redesign your class. Chinese educators found that simply following the same school schedule online is impractical, especially for younger pupils. First, it doesn’t hold students’ attention. Second, parents are forced to monitor their children for hours.

So teachers redesigned their classes. Many shortened 40-minute pre-recorded video or live-streamed lessons to 20 minutes, which included class activities such as lectures, drills, quizzes and student presentations every five to 10 minutes.

Some schools shortened their days from six classes to four and asked parents to lead the other two, such as physical education or housework. Others took a lesson from cram schools and jammed two days’ of curriculum into one day, to give families a one-day break and make it easier for parents to continue working. None of these designs was perfect. But they all made it easier for students to continue learning and for parents to juggle work and supervision of study2

Teach with parents in mind. Students – and parents – following livestreamed or recorded classes can become distracted. So it’s important to make expectations clear and stick to a schedule. All reference books and exercises need to be ready when the class starts. Parents should create an environment in which students can concentrate. And deadlines for homework must be clear.

Grading can be harder for remote teachers, especially for handwritten – or hand-drawn – assignments. And it is more important than ever to keep parents up to date with students’ progress. Automated tools can help. In China, teachers relied heavily on tools such as artificial intelligence-driven learning apps and grading devices, which automatically generate reports, calculate grades, and then send the results immediately to parents.

Expect a boom in extracurricular education. As it became clearer the pandemic would last for a while, Chinese students of all levels enrolled in extracurricular online education courses to gain an edge. Primary and secondary school students signed up for online tutoring in English and math. High-school students signed up for online preparatory classes for university admissions tests, which have now been postponed by one month for most students. And enrollments in vocational training courses soared.

[Anonymous]

Would appreciate less teacher bashing (unproductive) and more ideas and suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is burned out online. I'm in back to back meetings the whole day, and then back at it late at night because there is no line between work and home.

We need to solve this for everyone.

This.

I teach in a pressure-cooker secondary program. We actually have high staff turnover anyway because teachers get burnout with the grading and feedback cycles and parent demands to nudge grades upward. This spring led to a nervous breakdown and a marital separation for two of our teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone is burned out online. I'm in back to back meetings the whole day, and then back at it late at night because there is no line between work and home.

We need to solve this for everyone.

This.

I teach in a pressure-cooker secondary program. We actually have high staff turnover anyway because teachers get burnout with the grading and feedback cycles and parent demands to nudge grades upward. This spring led to a nervous breakdown and a marital separation for two of our teachers.

Meetings outside of “normal” working hours...I had zoom meetings with parents and other staff members (teammates, counselors, special ed teachers) at odd hours, late into the evening sometimes. Example: meeting with parents and special ed teacher to discuss accommodations for a child with an IEP...at 7:00 at night (because this was when the parents were available).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Meetings outside of “normal” working hours...I had zoom meetings with parents and other staff members (teammates, counselors, special ed teachers) at odd hours, late into the evening sometimes. Example: meeting with parents and special ed teacher to discuss accommodations for a child with an IEP...at 7:00 at night (because this was when the parents were available).

I think maybe some flexibility could be appropriate, but teachers should get flex time if they need to work in the evenings.

[Anonymous]

I think the biggest issue will be the camera. We can’t teach sitting in front of a laptop. We need cameras like they have in tv studios.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about the parents putting in 15-18 hour days due to DL supporting their young children, meals,meals,meals, and then 7-9 hours of office work, calls, deliverables.

Don’t be silly. No one is more important than teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the biggest issue will be the camera. We can’t teach sitting in front of a laptop. We need cameras like they have in tv studios.

And MCPS has provided Chromebooks for staff...and they are not adequate for what all day teaching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are misguided. Many teachers are working everyday now, unpaid, though most are taking a week or two off. And yes, your situation is undoubtedly, relentlessly difficult. Those discussing what distance learning is like are not claiming everyone else is having a rollicking good time during a pandemic. They are just responding to the thread topic. As a pp noted, division of the citizenry Diverts from pressing for real solutions to a 100 year health disaster.

Oh no! Only a week or two off. How horrible and inhuman. A travesty of the highest degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach an early elementary grade and I’m starting to dread the thought of prolonged distance learning. What my team did in the spring went fairly well all things considered, but it was mostly asynchronous and seen as temporary.

+1 I just requested leave. I can’t do it again AND be responsible for my own 1st grader getting online. Honestly, synchronous DL for Pre-K was HARD and isn’t appropriate for young kids. 20 year veteran down for the count here. So heartbroken that I won’t be teaching next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are misguided. Many teachers are working everyday now, unpaid, though most are taking a week or two off. And yes, your situation is undoubtedly, relentlessly difficult. Those discussing what distance learning is like are not claiming everyone else is having a rollicking good time during a pandemic. They are just responding to the thread topic. As a pp noted, division of the citizenry Diverts from pressing for real solutions to a 100 year health disaster.

Oh no! Only a week or two off. How horrible and inhuman. A travesty of the highest degree.

NP
The PP isn’t complaining about having 2 weeks off. The PP was responding to someone who suggested three full months off. The PP seems to be offering a counter point, not a complaint.