I feel so bad for DS’ teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why virtual learning is completely worthless .

Oh, look, this predictable response. Many third graders behave this way in person. It's often because of parents who don't enforce discipline at home.

--a parent of kids who are learning in DL and it is far from "worthless," thank you.

Well said. Our kids are also learning. And we would never model the "worthless" attitude in front of them. Methinks that people who say "virtual learning is completely worthless" are getting what they give when they display that attitude in front of their kids. Parents are a child's first teachers and all that...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching kids in 3rd grade remotely should only have been an option for those who with very high-risk conditions. Relying on these kids to pay attention while they are sitting in their bedroom, or in their house next to their dog, with their toys and iPad within reach, has never been set up for success.

I feel for all younger elementary teachers, but everyone has to get back in-person if that's their choice. It's the only way this will get resolved.

So put them away.

Right? Instead of screaming to force school buildings open during a pandemic, if your kids are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, be a parent. One person said schools needed to open because their kids were watching TV. Take the remote. Take the power cord, if removable. If a smart-TV, password protect it. If they're screwing around on their personal tablet, accessing entertainment, lock it the hell down. If they circumvent the restrictions, they no longer get privacy, since they can't be trusted. If they can't be trusted in their rooms, they can sit across the room from their parent who is working at home with headphones. The number of families on DCUM whose kids are sitting home 100% alone who are under high school age are very, very small. Step up. Be. A. Parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching kids in 3rd grade remotely should only have been an option for those who with very high-risk conditions. Relying on these kids to pay attention while they are sitting in their bedroom, or in their house next to their dog, with their toys and iPad within reach, has never been set up for success.

I feel for all younger elementary teachers, but everyone has to get back in-person if that's their choice. It's the only way this will get resolved.

So put them away.

So harsh. many kids have parents that are working FT and cannot monitor every minute and have no choice of where these kids are doing schoolwork. Many families live in small apartments with no choice of what is within reach. Get them back to class and if you are a teacher, find another career because clearly, you have no sympathy for students.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. No parents work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Use the time when you're not working to remove all distractions if your kid will not behave. Check on them when you get up to get a drink or go to the bathroom (nobody believes you if you say you are physically tied to a computer without moving for 8-9-10 hours a day). If they are screwing around when they are supposed to be doing school, enforce consequences. Rinse. Repeat.

Teachers do not need to "find another career." They will continue to teach by distance learning during a pandemic. Be a parent.

[Anonymous]

It's infectious. My daughter was so focused at the beginning of the year, so polite, so on top of everything, but after months of her classmates doing the exact same thing OP describes, I heard her tell her teacher "What do you want us to do, exactly?" nearly every day this week, when I know this teacher is exceptionally organized and very clear.

Poor teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching kids in 3rd grade remotely should only have been an option for those who with very high-risk conditions. Relying on these kids to pay attention while they are sitting in their bedroom, or in their house next to their dog, with their toys and iPad within reach, has never been set up for success.

I feel for all younger elementary teachers, but everyone has to get back in-person if that's their choice. It's the only way this will get resolved.

So put them away.

So harsh. many kids have parents that are working FT and cannot monitor every minute and have no choice of where these kids are doing schoolwork. Many families live in small apartments with no choice of what is within reach. Get them back to class and if you are a teacher, find another career because clearly, you have no sympathy for students.

NP. Why is this harsh? You don’t have to put EVERY toy out of reach but you could take some of the more distracting ones and the gaming systems and put them away or put them in your own line of sight until after school.

Do you think every family has a separate area in their house for kids to do school? For real. The classroom is the answer.

Families on DCUM? Yes, they do have areas for their kids to do school. It doesn't have to be an entire room. An entire apartment is not a child's room, full of toys. Set them up in the living room. No toys. No accessible electronics. Period.

The classroom is NOT "the answer" during a pandemic. Parenting is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids who have issues with executive functioning are in some cases flailing with distance learning. I think we really need to keep this in mind. My kid is an excellent student (above grade level in reading/math), wins citizenship awards and not a "trouble maker". DL has surprisingly been a struggle for my kid. I sat in on a class and saw the teacher give directions. My kids could not repeat to me what they said; was too overwhelmed thinking about which app they had to use; how much time they had to do it. There has been little support from schools for these kids. Luckily our teacher is fantastic and patient as a saint!

My ADHD kid is focusing much better and learning *much* better in DL without the distractions of behavioral issues in the classroom, and I've seen posts all over DCUM for months of other parents of ADHD kiids saying the same.

So you probably don't want to mistakenly paint "kids with executive functioning issues" with a broad brush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids who have issues with executive functioning are in some cases flailing with distance learning. I think we really need to keep this in mind. My kid is an excellent student (above grade level in reading/math), wins citizenship awards and not a "trouble maker". DL has surprisingly been a struggle for my kid. I sat in on a class and saw the teacher give directions. My kids could not repeat to me what they said; was too overwhelmed thinking about which app they had to use; how much time they had to do it. There has been little support from schools for these kids. Luckily our teacher is fantastic and patient as a saint!

My ADHD kid is focusing much better and learning *much* better in DL without the distractions of behavioral issues in the classroom, and I've seen posts all over DCUM for months of other parents of ADHD kiids saying the same.

So you probably don't want to mistakenly paint "kids with executive functioning issues" with a broad brush.

Yep, same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching kids in 3rd grade remotely should only have been an option for those who with very high-risk conditions. Relying on these kids to pay attention while they are sitting in their bedroom, or in their house next to their dog, with their toys and iPad within reach, has never been set up for success.

I feel for all younger elementary teachers, but everyone has to get back in-person if that's their choice. It's the only way this will get resolved.

So put them away.

So harsh. many kids have parents that are working FT and cannot monitor every minute and have no choice of where these kids are doing schoolwork. Many families live in small apartments with no choice of what is within reach. Get them back to class and if you are a teacher, find another career because clearly, you have no sympathy for students.

NP. Why is this harsh? You don’t have to put EVERY toy out of reach but you could take some of the more distracting ones and the gaming systems and put them away or put them in your own line of sight until after school.

NP here. My kid doesn’t even need toys to get distracted. She’ll walk around and act out ridiculous one-woman shows and have a grand ole time with nothing but her imagination.

And how would the classroom change it?

I work and can’t sit with her all day. She does this when I’m in meetings and she’s unsupervised. She would not be unsupervised in school.

I sympathize. I also work FT and check on my ES kid between the meetings. It’s hard.

I’ve also spent a lot of time at elementary schools in my previous life. It’s shocking how little supervision very young students get during lunch and recess. Yes, she will be disciplined if she misbehaves in the classroom, but that does mean that she’d made to focus or learn.

It seems that many of the parents get their first glimpses at their kids’ education during the pandemic. They blame it on DL when in reality, things aren’t that different from the f2f classrooms.

[Anonymous]

How much more supervision does an ES child need unless they have behavior issues? We used to have lunch and recess with 3 grades and each grade had 3 classes with 25 kids each. The only thing we needed from the adults was to ask to go to the bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is insane. My daughter is in 3rd grade AAP at a good school. I know there are supposed to be "no stupid questions" but the kids just ask the same things over and over again. Then there are the kids that are clearly not paying attention, bouncing all over the place, that chime in after 10 minutes to ask questions about what the teacher went over 20 minutes ago.
These teachers deserve an enormous bonus for the BS they are putting up with. They are putting in so much time and effort.

It’s the same in the classroom. Parents just don’t see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much more supervision does an ES child need unless they have behavior issues? We used to have lunch and recess with 3 grades and each grade had 3 classes with 25 kids each. The only thing we needed from the adults was to ask to go to the bathroom.

How much more than what?

My concern is safety during lunch - a choking kid would not be noticed right away—the same thing with the playground. I was parking when seen a 1st grader fall hard from a tall playground structure. The teacher just made the other students help walk the injured kid to the nurse. I was more concerned than the teacher, tbh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids who have issues with executive functioning are in some cases flailing with distance learning. I think we really need to keep this in mind. My kid is an excellent student (above grade level in reading/math), wins citizenship awards and not a "trouble maker". DL has surprisingly been a struggle for my kid. I sat in on a class and saw the teacher give directions. My kids could not repeat to me what they said; was too overwhelmed thinking about which app they had to use; how much time they had to do it. There has been little support from schools for these kids. Luckily our teacher is fantastic and patient as a saint!

My ADHD kid is focusing much better and learning *much* better in DL without the distractions of behavioral issues in the classroom, and I've seen posts all over DCUM for months of other parents of ADHD kiids saying the same.

So you probably don't want to mistakenly paint "kids with executive functioning issues" with a broad brush.

Did I paint them with a broad brush? I said specifically “in some cases”. Wow so many quick triggered posters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids who have issues with executive functioning are in some cases flailing with distance learning. I think we really need to keep this in mind. My kid is an excellent student (above grade level in reading/math), wins citizenship awards and not a "trouble maker". DL has surprisingly been a struggle for my kid. I sat in on a class and saw the teacher give directions. My kids could not repeat to me what they said; was too overwhelmed thinking about which app they had to use; how much time they had to do it. There has been little support from schools for these kids. Luckily our teacher is fantastic and patient as a saint!

My ADHD kid is focusing much better and learning *much* better in DL without the distractions of behavioral issues in the classroom, and I've seen posts all over DCUM for months of other parents of ADHD kiids saying the same.

So you probably don't want to mistakenly paint "kids with executive functioning issues" with a broad brush.

Did I paint them with a broad brush? I said specifically “in some cases”. Wow so many quick triggered posters.

My child has anxiety not ADHD. Executive functioning is not just a challenge for the ADHD students. We should be compassionate and aware of the many issues facing children. Just because it doesn’t affect yours doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching kids in 3rd grade remotely should only have been an option for those who with very high-risk conditions. Relying on these kids to pay attention while they are sitting in their bedroom, or in their house next to their dog, with their toys and iPad within reach, has never been set up for success.

I feel for all younger elementary teachers, but everyone has to get back in-person if that's their choice. It's the only way this will get resolved.

So put them away.

Right? Instead of screaming to force school buildings open during a pandemic, if your kids are not doing what they are supposed to be doing, be a parent. One person said schools needed to open because their kids were watching TV. Take the remote. Take the power cord, if removable. If a smart-TV, password protect it. If they're screwing around on their personal tablet, accessing entertainment, lock it the hell down. If they circumvent the restrictions, they no longer get privacy, since they can't be trusted. If they can't be trusted in their rooms, they can sit across the room from their parent who is working at home with headphones. The number of families on DCUM whose kids are sitting home 100% alone who are under high school age are very, very small. Step up. Be. A. Parent.

GET BACK TO WORK IN THE CLASSROOM!!

[Anonymous]

OP here.

My kid is One of those kids who is spacing out, who is asking questions he should already know the answer to, who is carrying around his iPad to go get a snack and so he misses instruction, who Stares at his paper or picks up a book when he is supposed to be doing his asynchronous assignment, Who asks questions he should know the answer to, who seeks out his sister when it sounds like something interesting is happening with her, Who never seems to have a pencil and paper when it’s obvious he should, etc.

I can’t sit right next to him because if I do he often leaves his iPad and comes over to me to tell me something or give me a hug. So I sit around the corner and eavesdrop and when it sounds like I need to get him back on task or make sure he’s doing an assignment, I’ll pop out for a bit. There of been many times when I haven’t been able to do that because I was helping my other child or making a phone call or taking a shower or something.

I imagine the kids spacing out is just part of eight-year-olds having to learn what they find to be a boring subject, and a teacher trying to teach 20 kids at a time. I also know Distance learning provides an additional level of difficulty because I hear the teacher frequently telling the children to go find a pen and paper, to get rid of distractions in their home, to return to class at the time they are supposed to, etc.

Anyway, the point of this post is not at all to complain about distance-learning, or to say it’s working perfectly, just that I think the teacher is amazing and I feel really bad for him. I was never under the illusion that teaching many third-graders is easy. I have always been amazed at what teachers do and have to deal with. So even if this is par for the course in an in person class, I still think that this teacher should get a big old bonus.