What do teachers want?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To those willing to destroy public school systems if it means getting rid of bad admin: killing coyotes doesn’t work. Nature abhors a vaccine. Public school systems are a delicate ecosystem. We already tried having business leaders run public schools. It cost a generation of inner city children a decent education.

Nobody wants to get rid of public schools. Families just want teachers and administrators to do the jobs they're paid to do. DL is already such a bare bones solution. As reported by the NYT article, to now also have teachers groups trying to scale back whatever DL there might be is just ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

Not that tired old body bag line again. For example, "sacrifice" could have meant admininstrators and teachers training/prepping this summer so they're ready for fall. But instead they're hiding behind their union contracts to say they're prohibited from doing any prep whatsoever this summer. (And yes, I'd gladly pay them to prep this summer.)

A couple notes here. "You" would "gladly pay" us, but we aren't actually being paid, so that's a useless promise. We aren't "hiding" behind contracts-we are literally off for the summer, without pay. I'm not sure you understand what a contract is. I can't plan even if I want to, because my district has absolutely ZERO information for how they are programming in the fall. I don't know if I'm teaching online, in person, or both. I don't know what subjects I'm teaching. You are embarrassing yourself-you have no idea what our jobs are like. Do you know that sometimes teachers find out they are teaching a different grade the day before school starts? We can't just "make plans", no matter how angry that makes you.

[Anonymous]

So sorry that people are "tired" of talking about the astronomical death toll from COVID. I love how we can "never forget" 9/11 where 3,000 people died in total, but now death tolls in the hundreds of thousands are acceptable. That is gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

Not that tired old body bag line again. For example, "sacrifice" could have meant admininstrators and teachers training/prepping this summer so they're ready for fall. But instead they're hiding behind their union contracts to say they're prohibited from doing any prep whatsoever this summer. (And yes, I'd gladly pay them to prep this summer.)

A couple notes here. "You" would "gladly pay" us, but we aren't actually being paid, so that's a useless promise. We aren't "hiding" behind contracts-we are literally off for the summer, without pay. I'm not sure you understand what a contract is. I can't plan even if I want to, because my district has absolutely ZERO information for how they are programming in the fall. I don't know if I'm teaching online, in person, or both. I don't know what subjects I'm teaching. You are embarrassing yourself-you have no idea what our jobs are like. Do you know that sometimes teachers find out they are teaching a different grade the day before school starts? We can't just "make plans", no matter how angry that makes you.

School districts and teachers should have come together earlier this summer to hammer out additional pay so everyone can be trained over the summer. Instead admins and teachers just retreated into their corners and said they're "off the clock." Also, I constantly have to do professional development outside my working hours, and I don't get paid for any of that. So some of this is also just about the kind of attitude you bring to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

Not that tired old body bag line again. For example, "sacrifice" could have meant admininstrators and teachers training/prepping this summer so they're ready for fall. But instead they're hiding behind their union contracts to say they're prohibited from doing any prep whatsoever this summer. (And yes, I'd gladly pay them to prep this summer.)

A couple notes here. "You" would "gladly pay" us, but we aren't actually being paid, so that's a useless promise. We aren't "hiding" behind contracts-we are literally off for the summer, without pay. I'm not sure you understand what a contract is. I can't plan even if I want to, because my district has absolutely ZERO information for how they are programming in the fall. I don't know if I'm teaching online, in person, or both. I don't know what subjects I'm teaching. You are embarrassing yourself-you have no idea what our jobs are like. Do you know that sometimes teachers find out they are teaching a different grade the day before school starts? We can't just "make plans", no matter how angry that makes you.

School districts and teachers should have come together earlier this summer to hammer out additional pay so everyone can be trained over the summer. Instead admins and teachers just retreated into their corners and said they're "off the clock." Also, I constantly have to do professional development outside my working hours, and I don't get paid for any of that. So some of this is also just about the kind of attitude you bring to work.

You are ridiculous. You think teachers have any say in getting additional pay? Then I'm done with this conversation. We have always worked way beyond our contracted hours, even though we are underpaid, because we believe we are making a difference. Teachers have had to strike just to get small cost of living raises across the country. States are in a huge budget crisis-they have cut hundreds of millions of dollars from education, but you think that if we just ask for money, we get it?
Stop telling us that we don't advocate for ourselves or work off the clock. You are wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So sorry that people are "tired" of talking about the astronomical death toll from COVID. I love how we can "never forget" 9/11 where 3,000 people died in total, but now death tolls in the hundreds of thousands are acceptable. That is gross.

You're so gross for invoking the memory of 9/11 to score a cheap point here.

Also, the point about "sacrifice" was about teachers doing some additional training this summer so they're ready for DL this fall, which had nothing to do with in-person class. So I don't even see the connection to safety here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

Not that tired old body bag line again. For example, "sacrifice" could have meant admininstrators and teachers training/prepping this summer so they're ready for fall. But instead they're hiding behind their union contracts to say they're prohibited from doing any prep whatsoever this summer. (And yes, I'd gladly pay them to prep this summer.)

A couple notes here. "You" would "gladly pay" us, but we aren't actually being paid, so that's a useless promise. We aren't "hiding" behind contracts-we are literally off for the summer, without pay. I'm not sure you understand what a contract is. I can't plan even if I want to, because my district has absolutely ZERO information for how they are programming in the fall. I don't know if I'm teaching online, in person, or both. I don't know what subjects I'm teaching. You are embarrassing yourself-you have no idea what our jobs are like. Do you know that sometimes teachers find out they are teaching a different grade the day before school starts? We can't just "make plans", no matter how angry that makes you.

School districts and teachers should have come together earlier this summer to hammer out additional pay so everyone can be trained over the summer. Instead admins and teachers just retreated into their corners and said they're "off the clock." Also, I constantly have to do professional development outside my working hours, and I don't get paid for any of that. So some of this is also just about the kind of attitude you bring to work.

What would you like me to plan? I don’t know what grade/s I’m teaching, I don’t know who my students will be, what exactly do you want me to do? If you paid me over the summer I don’t have anything to plan yet. Even if I’m assigned a grade level in June for the next year I don’t plan, because I’ve had that rug pulled out from under me the day before school starts. You don’t understand how schools work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here.

I want my kids to be able to check out books from our classroom and school library every two weeks. I don’t want kids sitting at a computer all day. I want a schedule that is realistic for young kids. I teach 6th grade and an hour is a long time. I personally think live sessions should be 30-45 mins max. If I had to set up my schedule... 15 min MM. 1 hour- Reading/Writing/Word Study 45 mins- Math. 45 mins SS/Science. The rest of the day is asynchronous with conferences and small groups. 9:00-10:15- MM and LA. 10:15-10:45 break. 10:45-11:30- Math. 11:30-12:30 - lunch/break 12:30-1:15- SS/Science. 1:15-4:00 - asynchronous assignments, specials and small groups.

I bet that most elementary parents would be fine with this. It gets the core done in the morning incase parents can't support in the afternoon. It offers time for small group instruction. Can we just do this?

I'm really sick of hearing teachers say that they can't possibly do their job right now. I'm not asking for heroics but an honest attempt at DL would go a long way. The spring effort I personally saw was disgraceful and the comments I've see this summer from teachers are really disappointing. As a parent, I've been stepping up for months, researching SOLs and teaching my kids while also working a FT job. I'm at my breaking point and need help. I really need teachers to stop making excuses and help teach my kids. Please.

Thanks! I also want to add I want there to be consistency from school to school within a district regarding times and expectations for teachers. I think that is why a lot of parents were not happy. There were some schools who did a great job and others that failed. I think a lot of that has to do with leadership. It was very interesting to me to look at the data regarding choice for DL vs hybrid. My school had a larger DL vote but another school within my pyramid and similar demographics had an extremely large in person vote.

Thank you for chiming in. Your plan makes sense, and thank you for noting that kids should be able to check out material. That would help. So would occasional, outdoor, small group activities.

I do love teachers, and for that reason, I am devastated about how this is going down.

[Anonymous]

We're pulling our kids. What's the point of some ever more watered down DL? It's just welfare for teachers now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, I am so incredibly embarrassed for my profession right now. We have spent years trying to be seen as important, essential, professional, up to tackling challenges, etc. Now most of my colleagues are ranting dramatically and nonsensically all over social media while going on beach vacations and taking their kids to sports practices. I will be exiting this profession as soon as I possibly can. The whole show has been disgraceful.

Agreed. It just seems like no one was willing to make the sacrifices needed to return to in person learning this fall- or just didn't make the connection until it was too late.

However, IME those who were advocating against in-person learning are not necessarily the same ones complaining about DL now. Many teachers with younger school-aged kids simply wanted to return to the classroom and now are really scrambling to figure out the logistics. And there should have been more training this summer to help some of the non-technology savvy teachers navigate remote teaching.

"The sacrifices needed"-you are literally talking about people dying. Let's be clear here.

By sacrifices needed, I meant no parties, no vacations, minimal store trips, no play dates. It’s not just teachers, it’s people across the board. Because so many have been doing all of these things, infection rates are now out of control again. But it rings a bit hollow when a teacher posts on social media that they are scared to go back to school after a week at Disney, you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To those willing to destroy public school systems if it means getting rid of bad admin: killing coyotes doesn’t work. Nature abhors a vaccine. Public school systems are a delicate ecosystem. We already tried having business leaders run public schools. It cost a generation of inner city children a decent education.

Nobody wants to get rid of public schools. Families just want teachers and administrators to do the jobs they're paid to do. DL is already such a bare bones solution. As reported by the NYT article, to now also have teachers groups trying to scale back whatever DL there might be is just ridiculous.

Plenty of people want to kill public schools, and the situation is giving them more ammo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're pulling our kids. What's the point of some ever more watered down DL? It's just welfare for teachers now.

Good, makes my life easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're pulling our kids. What's the point of some ever more watered down DL? It's just welfare for teachers now.

Good, makes my life easier.

Us too. So now your life is even easier. Not more successful, but easier.

[Anonymous]

If school truly wasn’t childcare, a parent would accompany each child to school and keep them under control so I could do my actual job and teach. This generation of kids is so disrespectful and disruptive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're pulling our kids. What's the point of some ever more watered down DL? It's just welfare for teachers now.

Good, makes my life easier.

Just don't whine anymore about the lack of support for public education. This is how families walk away, one by one. Teachers and admins are doing their best to destroy whatever value proposition remains of public schools.