no progress on virtual learning plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

The same parents who are constantly online posting.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I oppose virtual for anyone under HS level. Slippery slope to over use it, and it doesn't work. Kids should be learning in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I oppose virtual for anyone under HS level. Slippery slope to over use it, and it doesn't work. Kids should be learning in person.

Many kids are not learning in person if you look at test scores. We had a great experience virtually for middle school but the key difference is we could provide more support as we could see better what’s going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I oppose virtual for anyone under HS level. Slippery slope to over use it, and it doesn't work. Kids should be learning in person.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I oppose virtual for anyone under HS level. Slippery slope to over use it, and it doesn't work. Kids should be learning in person.

Many kids are not learning in person if you look at test scores. We had a great experience virtually for middle school but the key difference is we could provide more support as we could see better what’s going on.

Good for you. Most of us have jobs. It must be great to have all that free time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

Of course they'd slow roll reopening even more. Don't you remember the messages Taylor sent out? He didn't want to reopen after this last snowfall.

And you can forget about any compensatory services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I oppose virtual for anyone under HS level. Slippery slope to over use it, and it doesn't work. Kids should be learning in person.

Many kids are not learning in person if you look at test scores. We had a great experience virtually for middle school but the key difference is we could provide more support as we could see better what’s going on.

Good for you. Most of us have jobs. It must be great to have all that free time.

You clearly have a lot of free time given you post here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

Then you work on the assignments when you get home or take a pto day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I oppose virtual for anyone under HS level. Slippery slope to over use it, and it doesn't work. Kids should be learning in person.

Many kids are not learning in person if you look at test scores. We had a great experience virtually for middle school but the key difference is we could provide more support as we could see better what’s going on.

Good for you. Most of us have jobs. It must be great to have all that free time.

You clearly have a lot of free time given you post here.

Look at the calendar and check the date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I have a kindergartner and both my husband and I have no telework options. During the past snowstorm, our work reopened Wednesday and our younger child's private day care reopened Tuesday. We were still snowed in Wednesday, but sent my kindergartner to the younger child's daycare Thursday and Friday and to school based care on Monday. If any of those days had been virtual, he would have mostly skipped it. The private day care I think would have tried to get him at least dialed in but no way would global have been able to get all the kids into virtual school.

I don't know. Maybe virtual is still the right answer with the understanding that younger kids will get little to nothing out of it. But I would be concerned that if virtual is an option, there would be even less push to reopen schools or use identified makeup days and that is going to hurt younger children.

Then you work on the assignments when you get home or take a pto day.

You lack any meaningful understanding of how young children (grades 2 and below) learn.

They don't "learn," from assignments. They learn from interactions with their teachers and peers. The assessments are merely a way to facilitate that interaction. Virtual learning strips or greatly diminishes that interaction, hence why it is an incredibly poor substitute for in-person learning for our youngest learners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

They're not worried about their kids. They're worried about their vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i don't get the opposition to virtual school for snow days given the alternative is a bunch of half days in late June after exams/APS where it is fully known there is no learning happening. even if it's not perfect it seems far more likely to result in learning

(and i'm a psychologist and saw a high number of kids who thrived in virtual school-- and plenty who struggled and parents often discovering kids ADHD when watching them learn from home )

+1. These people who claim to speak for “all parents” and say that virtual school failed everyone must not be very familiar with modern education. It certainly wasn’t ideal in all circumstances, but for kids older than grade 4, it’s fine. And if all kids don’t show up perfectly ready to learn online, let’s not forget the MCPS has a high degree of in-person absenteeism as well.

Sometimes you have to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. But I guess complaining about everything is a good excuse for McPS to do nothing even as the rest of the country adopts these plans to be prepared for emergencies.

And for kids below grade 4? What about them? And what about kids with special needs? They don't matter?

Gee. I guess that NYC with its student body of 1 million, and Boston and Anne Arundel and Alexandria and Baltimore must not have any kids with IEPs or kids under grade 4 since they managed to figure out a virtual learning plan.

Your ignorance isn’t cute. Other school districts make it work. Happy to contribute to a go fund me so that McPS staff can buy a bus ticket to some of these other cities to see how the other school districts do it.

Some schools "make it work" by screwing over a large portion of students.

Many other schools choose not to do that, instead incorporating an appropriate number of days to their calendars from the start while also implementing make-up days. That's the better option for more students. But that's not your concern- you just don't want your vacation plans interrupted.

Yes far better to be like MCPS and screw over ALL students so that they don’t get the required number of instructional days like the rest of the country and ask for a waiver to the state of Maryland year after year.

Meanwhile schools tell students not to bother coming to the new days in late June because all the teachers will be calling in sick and on vacation.

So no virtual learning because we don’t want to mess with the extra vacation snow days provide MCPS staff right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I have trouble understanding how DCUM is so antiscreens, and yet also wants a plan where we go back to 1:1 devices that travel with kids.

Similarly, I have trouble believing that DCUM is up in arms that school, and school based closings present challenges for working parents, and is now advocating something that would be impossible for many families using group childcare or working from home while supervising to manage.

The costs of virtual days would be high. To say that schools should do it because it might yield a tiny bit of learning, is absurd because it ignores those costs.

I lean towards the anti screens side and also support virtual learning during long snow closures. Just because you ensure that the fraction of kids whose parents don't own computers have a school computer to bring home before a big storm, doesn't at all mean that those kids need to be using computers on a daily basis in the classroom. Totally separate issues.

So tired of people on their high horses acting as if a short period of virtual learning after a huge ice storm will harm their kids. Good grief. Virtual learning in that scenario needs to meet a minimal threshold; it needs to be superior to adding days at the end of the school where a large percentage of the student population will be absent. It meets that requirement. Done!

Equally tired of parents acting like a few snow days will harm their kids.

It does for kids in advanced classes