Can we hear from the teachers please?

[Anonymous]

Addressing the original question:

The amount of information that teachers are getting depends on their school. At my high school, teachers have received no specific information. We do know that our leadership team is working hard on very complex issues. Every teacher I work with has similar questions about the return to school, but mostly about HOW it would work.

If I have 9 students in my first period class who have elected to come back to school and 21 students who are in my first period at home - how am I teaching first period? Am I running a Zoom with my 21 at-home students at the same time I'm teaching the 9 students in class? Would I basically have to have the 9 in-school students on Chromebooks, so that the whole class is doing the same thing at the same time? (And if we're all on Chromebooks, what was the point of coming back to school?)

If my second period has 18 students in-school and 13 students at-home, I can't fit anywhere close to 18 students in my room with social distancing. If they split my 18 in-school students up, who's teaching the students they remove from my class when I'm the ONLY teacher of the course in my building? So now we have 9 students with me, 9 students sitting somewhere else in the building, and 13 students at home. Are we all just on our Chromebooks like we are now?

Speculation among teachers is similar to speculation on this forum, mainly because no one knows or has communicated the nuts and bolts on how this is going to work.

[Anonymous]

Are school counselors expected back in the building? Will they be helping with coverage? I saw that administrators and SDTs will be utilized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of thousands of teachers have been back in the classroom since August without a vaccine. What makes MCPS teachers so special?

Well that was their choice

And they sound like idiots for accepting that kind of treatment.

Even DL teachers have been chumps since last September. Many were working 14-16 hour days and spending thousands of dollars of upgrading home technology in order to do the job their employer told them to do.

Must be nice to be able to quit your job with nothing else lined up!

Luckily, people still have 5 weeks and I know teachers who are interviewing during lunch and getting offers.

If teachers have other options besides teaching in MCPS that work better for them, they should take them. Vote with your feet.

I agree. But in reality, we all know this is an empty threat. This threat happened at almost every district that returned, and spoiler alert: there were enough teachers left to teach.

I think any teacher that leaves for a private sector job is in for a rude awakening. Whenever their boss tells them they are needed for a weekend. Or whenever their job description changes. Or whenever their benefits package changes.

As a parent, I find it mind-boggling that so many parents seem to think that teaching is an easy job and don't recognize and appreciate how incredibly hard most teachers work (even in normal times, let alone dealing with all the extra challenges this year, which somehow some people think is an easier year for teachers rather than a harder one?!) I would think that most private sector jobs that a teacher would switch to would be easier and "better" (and I'm not sure how people could think otherwise unless they're somehow confused and think that classroom hours are the only part of teaching.) We are so freaking lucky to have so many amazing teachers willing to make the sacrifices necessary to teach our kids, and it's awful to see so many parents bash them rather than thank them.

No one is saying teachers have an easy job. We are sick of them complaining about their job. Like they are tortured with long hours and endless work. The average salary employee works an average of 52 hours a week for 50 weeks a year. No teacher comes close to working those hours. It is an easy college degree to get. It is a hard job to work. No different than a million other professions.

If they don’t like their job or do not consider themselves essential, then go get another job. That is it. Stop the whining. Stop the complaining. Do a lot of parents suck these days? Absolutely. Are many not involved. Yup. But complaining non-stop is so tiring. I mean just stop

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of thousands of teachers have been back in the classroom since August without a vaccine. What makes MCPS teachers so special?

Well that was their choice

And they sound like idiots for accepting that kind of treatment.

Even DL teachers have been chumps since last September. Many were working 14-16 hour days and spending thousands of dollars of upgrading home technology in order to do the job their employer told them to do.

Must be nice to be able to quit your job with nothing else lined up!

Luckily, people still have 5 weeks and I know teachers who are interviewing during lunch and getting offers.

If teachers have other options besides teaching in MCPS that work better for them, they should take them. Vote with your feet.

I agree. But in reality, we all know this is an empty threat. This threat happened at almost every district that returned, and spoiler alert: there were enough teachers left to teach.

I think any teacher that leaves for a private sector job is in for a rude awakening. Whenever their boss tells them they are needed for a weekend. Or whenever their job description changes. Or whenever their benefits package changes.

As a parent, I find it mind-boggling that so many parents seem to think that teaching is an easy job and don't recognize and appreciate how incredibly hard most teachers work (even in normal times, let alone dealing with all the extra challenges this year, which somehow some people think is an easier year for teachers rather than a harder one?!) I would think that most private sector jobs that a teacher would switch to would be easier and "better" (and I'm not sure how people could think otherwise unless they're somehow confused and think that classroom hours are the only part of teaching.) We are so freaking lucky to have so many amazing teachers willing to make the sacrifices necessary to teach our kids, and it's awful to see so many parents bash them rather than thank them.

No one is saying teachers have an easy job. We are sick of them complaining about their job. Like they are tortured with long hours and endless work. The average salary employee works an average of 52 hours a week for 50 weeks a year. No teacher comes close to working those hours. It is an easy college degree to get. It is a hard job to work. No different than a million other professions.

If they don’t like their job or do not consider themselves essential, then go get another job. That is it. Stop the whining. Stop the complaining. Do a lot of parents suck these days? Absolutely. Are many not involved. Yup. But complaining non-stop is so tiring. I mean just stop

I hear more complaining about teachers complaining than teachers actually complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are school counselors expected back in the building? Will they be helping with coverage? I saw that administrators and SDTs will be utilized.

they were on the list of people who could potentially be helping with coverage as well as Library Media Specialists, ESOL staff, reason reading specials (I saw a list somewhere of all the teachers who could be used)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of thousands of teachers have been back in the classroom since August without a vaccine. What makes MCPS teachers so special?

Well that was their choice

And they sound like idiots for accepting that kind of treatment.

Even DL teachers have been chumps since last September. Many were working 14-16 hour days and spending thousands of dollars of upgrading home technology in order to do the job their employer told them to do.

Must be nice to be able to quit your job with nothing else lined up!

Luckily, people still have 5 weeks and I know teachers who are interviewing during lunch and getting offers.

If teachers have other options besides teaching in MCPS that work better for them, they should take them. Vote with your feet.

I agree. But in reality, we all know this is an empty threat. This threat happened at almost every district that returned, and spoiler alert: there were enough teachers left to teach.

I think any teacher that leaves for a private sector job is in for a rude awakening. Whenever their boss tells them they are needed for a weekend. Or whenever their job description changes. Or whenever their benefits package changes.

As a parent, I find it mind-boggling that so many parents seem to think that teaching is an easy job and don't recognize and appreciate how incredibly hard most teachers work (even in normal times, let alone dealing with all the extra challenges this year, which somehow some people think is an easier year for teachers rather than a harder one?!) I would think that most private sector jobs that a teacher would switch to would be easier and "better" (and I'm not sure how people could think otherwise unless they're somehow confused and think that classroom hours are the only part of teaching.) We are so freaking lucky to have so many amazing teachers willing to make the sacrifices necessary to teach our kids, and it's awful to see so many parents bash them rather than thank them.

No one is saying teachers have an easy job. We are sick of them complaining about their job. Like they are tortured with long hours and endless work. The average salary employee works an average of 52 hours a week for 50 weeks a year. No teacher comes close to working those hours. It is an easy college degree to get. It is a hard job to work. No different than a million other professions.

If they don’t like their job or do not consider themselves essential, then go get another job. That is it. Stop the whining. Stop the complaining. Do a lot of parents suck these days? Absolutely. Are many not involved. Yup. But complaining non-stop is so tiring. I mean just stop

When I worked in the private sector and also non-teaching public sector, there was so much down time nearly every day. I could go to the bathroom whenever I needed to and make brief personal calls. This past week, I had to get a half day substitute just so I could make three phone calls to doctors’ offices after playing phone tag for weeks. Afterwards, I instantly regretted not taking the whole day because I also needed to call our credit union and handle an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Addressing the original question:

The amount of information that teachers are getting depends on their school. At my high school, teachers have received no specific information. We do know that our leadership team is working hard on very complex issues. Every teacher I work with has similar questions about the return to school, but mostly about HOW it would work.

If I have 9 students in my first period class who have elected to come back to school and 21 students who are in my first period at home - how am I teaching first period? Am I running a Zoom with my 21 at-home students at the same time I'm teaching the 9 students in class? Would I basically have to have the 9 in-school students on Chromebooks, so that the whole class is doing the same thing at the same time? (And if we're all on Chromebooks, what was the point of coming back to school?)

If my second period has 18 students in-school and 13 students at-home, I can't fit anywhere close to 18 students in my room with social distancing. If they split my 18 in-school students up, who's teaching the students they remove from my class when I'm the ONLY teacher of the course in my building? So now we have 9 students with me, 9 students sitting somewhere else in the building, and 13 students at home. Are we all just on our Chromebooks like we are now?

Speculation among teachers is similar to speculation on this forum, mainly because no one knows or has communicated the nuts and bolts on how this is going to work.

I have a child in ES. We were told that both in person and DL students will all be on their chromebooks regardless of the model adopted. Your second period sounds exactly like the type of situation they are hiring monitors for. So you’d be in one room with half of the in person students and the monitor would be with the other half.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hundreds of thousands of teachers have been back in the classroom since August without a vaccine. What makes MCPS teachers so special?

Well that was their choice

And they sound like idiots for accepting that kind of treatment.

Even DL teachers have been chumps since last September. Many were working 14-16 hour days and spending thousands of dollars of upgrading home technology in order to do the job their employer told them to do.

Must be nice to be able to quit your job with nothing else lined up!

Luckily, people still have 5 weeks and I know teachers who are interviewing during lunch and getting offers.

If teachers have other options besides teaching in MCPS that work better for them, they should take them. Vote with your feet.

I agree. But in reality, we all know this is an empty threat. This threat happened at almost every district that returned, and spoiler alert: there were enough teachers left to teach.

I think any teacher that leaves for a private sector job is in for a rude awakening. Whenever their boss tells them they are needed for a weekend. Or whenever their job description changes. Or whenever their benefits package changes.

As a parent, I find it mind-boggling that so many parents seem to think that teaching is an easy job and don't recognize and appreciate how incredibly hard most teachers work (even in normal times, let alone dealing with all the extra challenges this year, which somehow some people think is an easier year for teachers rather than a harder one?!) I would think that most private sector jobs that a teacher would switch to would be easier and "better" (and I'm not sure how people could think otherwise unless they're somehow confused and think that classroom hours are the only part of teaching.) We are so freaking lucky to have so many amazing teachers willing to make the sacrifices necessary to teach our kids, and it's awful to see so many parents bash them rather than thank them.

No one is saying teachers have an easy job. We are sick of them complaining about their job. Like they are tortured with long hours and endless work. The average salary employee works an average of 52 hours a week for 50 weeks a year. No teacher comes close to working those hours. It is an easy college degree to get. It is a hard job to work. No different than a million other professions.

If they don’t like their job or do not consider themselves essential, then go get another job. That is it. Stop the whining. Stop the complaining. Do a lot of parents suck these days? Absolutely. Are many not involved. Yup. But complaining non-stop is so tiring. I mean just stop

The only people I see complaining on this board is parents. You chose your two kids and a dog, you chose to be a Mommy and everything that came with it, for better or worse, like a marriage. OK. We ALL know there is a pandemic and everything is higgledy piggledy and you're tired, overworked, doing teacher's job, yadda yadda whatever. But guess what? WE ALL ARE. You wanna switch with me?? I have 5 kids, inc. twins and am doing DL, IP and homeschooled due to ages and needs. But, I do not complain. So, shut up, stop complaining, and just wait for things to sort itself out. Or, f' in move to Florida already. This board is constipated with parent posts, roasts, and hysteria about teacher's. End it already. Get another job so you don't have time to sit around and complain. I check this board twice a month. That is reasonable. I cannot believe all these crazy posts pop up in 2 weeks!!!

[Anonymous]

There will naturally be a lot of "complaining" teachers and a lot of people complaining about teachers on this board.

If there was a board on dentistry in the DC area, you'd have a ton of people complaining about their dentists. Dentist would chime in with things that bothered them about their patients and work.

It can be expected that a board like this will magnify concerns and complaints. I would guess that a discussion board will attract a greater percentage of concerned parents and teachers than satisfied ones.

I'm completely satisfied with my dentist. I'm not seeking out discussion boards on dentistry to share my views.