Let’s cut to the chase and furlough teachers.

[Anonymous]

I have 60 students in each of my online summer classes this summer, so I guess I am a guinea pig for the theory in this thread...

[Anonymous]

Teacher of specials (art, music, PE) could be put on retainer. Nobody I know really did much if anything for these classes. However, the majority of my kid's teachers did great. There are even aspects of DL I liked better than the regular school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't teachers (or even one teacher in MCPS) record and post video lessons?

Can't someone (or several who rotate) record lessons for 7th grade Science for example? Then students can access it when they have time and teachers can record it when they have help with childcare or when their children are sleeping.

Also, MCPS teachers should know that we understand working from home means a kid screaming in the background or a dog barking. It's just the way it is. We just do the best we can.

If they're just going to do that why even bother? They could send a link to Khan Academy to your kid and call it a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 60 students in each of my online summer classes this summer, so I guess I am a guinea pig for the theory in this thread...

Yikes!

I’m supposed to teach an enrichment course and just noticed there is no cap. Maybe that’s the goal of making them free —see how many can be squeezed in before teachers crack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DL in Maryland is a joke. Let’s face it and save our money for a real education when public health permits it. The school can keep posting the random worksheets it doesn’t grade and the YouTube videos of other teachers. One teacher can do that for each grade in that state while we furlough the others. Then those teachers won’t need to whine about how hard it is to teach with their child care responsibilities.

We can treat these teachers equally to school nurses, bus drivers, custodians and paraeducators who have been struggling. And we can balance our budget this year and save the $ for real improvement in the future. I would much rather return to regular school but until that can be done let’s treat all our education professionals equally. Or if teachers want to actually teach live and grade like they really want to educate I am all for paying them. But paying them to sit at home and whine about how online is hard while they each post the same videos as the other 200 teachers in the district without follow up is not ok.

Flame away but we don’t have the extra money for fluff anymore. There are lots of virtual teaching jobs out there for those who actually teach that could be had by teachers who , as they say, actually want to teach.

I'm 1000% with you, OP. I have been shocked to find out how little teaching teachers actually do. Growing up in remember teachers working on lesson plans, etc. Come to find out now that the schools buy a curriculum with handouts etx and the teachers just spit out the canned lessons that were paid for.
I have yet to hear of a teacher helping a student who had a particular struggle like we had when I was growing up. Now, with DL, I'm convinced the teachers are a total joke.

Teaching should be done with AI that meets kids where they are, automatically customizes to their learning style and prods for their weaknesses and reinforces them.

Teachers are a joke, but when you see what they cost tax payers, its not so funny.

This post definitely makes me think that the quality of teachers will decline significantly in the future. More capable graduates will not be likely to choose teaching as a profession.

You're absolutely correct.

Yeah, probably not many well qualified people who want a job where people call you a "joke" and say that you just "spit out canned lessons that were paid for"-you need to get a life, honestly. Teaching should be done with AI? Okay, then why do you dislike distance learning? I would think that anything that brings teaching closer to automation would please you. Who will watch your children all day, since that seems to be the only function of teachers that you care for? Our robot replacements?

I have less and less concern for working parents as I see these threads ranting and raving about how teachers are lazy, dumb, whiners who you would like to lay off en masse. Okay, good luck with your children in the fall! Clearly, you don't need us. You're so angry that there is no school due to a global crisis that is completely out of our hands. You have zero respect for the people who run the schools and who raise YOUR children so you can work without feeling guilty about it. How about thanking the teachers who have made it possible for you and your partner to work for all these years? All these parents who say that schools are the economic engine of our country, yet who refuse to acknowledge that schools don't run themselves. You know what? Pay me for putting myself in harm's way and I'll consider it. Otherwise, I'm going to keep advocating to keep myself and MY family safe-you can do the same for yours.

Ugh! I can't believe someone wifh your iq is being paid to teach my children. You are replying to me. I am not a working parent. Assumptions are the antithesis of mental rigor.

The passive aggression is not something I want to see from someone in contact with my children.

And I dislike DL because its nothing at all like AI. You honestly are more clueless than I imagined a teached could be in 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DL in Maryland is a joke. Let’s face it and save our money for a real education when public health permits it. The school can keep posting the random worksheets it doesn’t grade and the YouTube videos of other teachers. One teacher can do that for each grade in that state while we furlough the others. Then those teachers won’t need to whine about how hard it is to teach with their child care responsibilities.

We can treat these teachers equally to school nurses, bus drivers, custodians and paraeducators who have been struggling. And we can balance our budget this year and save the $ for real improvement in the future. I would much rather return to regular school but until that can be done let’s treat all our education professionals equally. Or if teachers want to actually teach live and grade like they really want to educate I am all for paying them. But paying them to sit at home and whine about how online is hard while they each post the same videos as the other 200 teachers in the district without follow up is not ok.

Flame away but we don’t have the extra money for fluff anymore. There are lots of virtual teaching jobs out there for those who actually teach that could be had by teachers who , as they say, actually want to teach.

I'm 1000% with you, OP. I have been shocked to find out how little teaching teachers actually do. Growing up in remember teachers working on lesson plans, etc. Come to find out now that the schools buy a curriculum with handouts etx and the teachers just spit out the canned lessons that were paid for.
I have yet to hear of a teacher helping a student who had a particular struggle like we had when I was growing up. Now, with DL, I'm convinced the teachers are a total joke.

Teaching should be done with AI that meets kids where they are, automatically customizes to their learning style and prods for their weaknesses and reinforces them.

Teachers are a joke, but when you see what they cost tax payers, its not so funny.

This post definitely makes me think that the quality of teachers will decline significantly in the future. More capable graduates will not be likely to choose teaching as a profession.

You're absolutely correct.

Yeah, probably not many well qualified people who want a job where people call you a "joke" and say that you just "spit out canned lessons that were paid for"-you need to get a life, honestly. Teaching should be done with AI? Okay, then why do you dislike distance learning? I would think that anything that brings teaching closer to automation would please you. Who will watch your children all day, since that seems to be the only function of teachers that you care for? Our robot replacements?

I have less and less concern for working parents as I see these threads ranting and raving about how teachers are lazy, dumb, whiners who you would like to lay off en masse. Okay, good luck with your children in the fall! Clearly, you don't need us. You're so angry that there is no school due to a global crisis that is completely out of our hands. You have zero respect for the people who run the schools and who raise YOUR children so you can work without feeling guilty about it. How about thanking the teachers who have made it possible for you and your partner to work for all these years? All these parents who say that schools are the economic engine of our country, yet who refuse to acknowledge that schools don't run themselves. You know what? Pay me for putting myself in harm's way and I'll consider it. Otherwise, I'm going to keep advocating to keep myself and MY family safe-you can do the same for yours.

Ugh! I can't believe someone wifh your iq is being paid to teach my children. You are replying to me. I am not a working parent. Assumptions are the antithesis of mental rigor.

The passive aggression is not something I want to see from someone in contact with my children.

And I dislike DL because its nothing at all like AI. You honestly are more clueless than I imagined a teached could be in 2020.

Really? I agree with the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a highly motivated and highly accomplished academic that chose to go into special education. The truth is, I certainly could find a higher paying job that would also eliminate parents like those of you criticizing teachers right now. I definitely have many other options, and have done them, but I also know that many of my students need high quality teachers and I find purpose for my life by doing this job. Of course, my husbands salary pays our main bills. That said, one of my teens had expressed interest in education and I talked her out of it. Every year I have to deal with people questioning my intellect, purpose, and drive. Parents like to tell me that they are paying my salary when in reality I am also paying their federal government salary. I could tell you how many incredible teachers I have mentored over the years that left for the business sector within a few years and guess what, they are all successful and happy. If you don’t start respecting and appreciating what teachers are doing every day you will find yourself with no one left to listen to your snotty bs and your kid will not have a good school experience. Oh well, continue on being the self absorbed jerks you are but remember that when your kid turns into the same type of angry person you are, you have only yourself to blame.

When you can take a break from patting yourself on the back, look in the mirror. The only angry person here is you.

[Anonymous]

Sign me up for being furloughed. I hate teaching online and with the ****y plans my school has in place, I'm pretty sure we'll be back online by October.

Sadly, it won't happen. Every school district I know is trying to hire (especially in core subjects and special ed). I also don't think you need fewer teachers for online. I found teaching online more time consuming and difficult than face-to-face. It was harder to make personal connections with students and to help them if they were struggling. Good video lessons are very challenging to make, and my subject involves a lot of written scientific communication - so giving students feedback on their writing is very important. AI isn't going to do that.

I was actually in a district that implemented furloughs (in CA, 2009-2015) before I moved here. They cut 3 weeks out of the school year (and reduced our pay). I actually didn't mind because we got 2 weeks spring break, full week at thanksgiving, and 3 weeks at Christmas. Lots of people were upset because they had budgeted for the full salary and this wasn't just one year... it went on for years. It really did hurt the district though- it's hard to retain teachers in a difficult environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: DL in Maryland is a joke. Let’s face it and save our money for a real education when public health permits it. The school can keep posting the random worksheets it doesn’t grade and the YouTube videos of other teachers. One teacher can do that for each grade in that state while we furlough the others. Then those teachers won’t need to whine about how hard it is to teach with their child care responsibilities.

We can treat these teachers equally to school nurses, bus drivers, custodians and paraeducators who have been struggling. And we can balance our budget this year and save the $ for real improvement in the future. I would much rather return to regular school but until that can be done let’s treat all our education professionals equally. Or if teachers want to actually teach live and grade like they really want to educate I am all for paying them. But paying them to sit at home and whine about how online is hard while they each post the same videos as the other 200 teachers in the district without follow up is not ok.

Flame away but we don’t have the extra money for fluff anymore. There are lots of virtual teaching jobs out there for those who actually teach that could be had by teachers who , as they say, actually want to teach.

Let's furlough you first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DL in Maryland is a joke. Let’s face it and save our money for a real education when public health permits it. The school can keep posting the random worksheets it doesn’t grade and the YouTube videos of other teachers. One teacher can do that for each grade in that state while we furlough the others. Then those teachers won’t need to whine about how hard it is to teach with their child care responsibilities.

We can treat these teachers equally to school nurses, bus drivers, custodians and paraeducators who have been struggling. And we can balance our budget this year and save the $ for real improvement in the future. I would much rather return to regular school but until that can be done let’s treat all our education professionals equally. Or if teachers want to actually teach live and grade like they really want to educate I am all for paying them. But paying them to sit at home and whine about how online is hard while they each post the same videos as the other 200 teachers in the district without follow up is not ok.

Flame away but we don’t have the extra money for fluff anymore. There are lots of virtual teaching jobs out there for those who actually teach that could be had by teachers who , as they say, actually want to teach.

Let's furlough you first.

Snide PP. How do you know the prior poster hasn’t been furloughed??? In the real world (aka private sector) people are losing jobs by the millions. You don’t know this, perhaps, inside your “government job” bubble. Wake up because sooner or later, the tanking economy will come for all of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sign me up for being furloughed. I hate teaching online and with the ****y plans my school has in place, I'm pretty sure we'll be back online by October.

Sadly, it won't happen. Every school district I know is trying to hire (especially in core subjects and special ed). I also don't think you need fewer teachers for online. I found teaching online more time consuming and difficult than face-to-face. It was harder to make personal connections with students and to help them if they were struggling. Good video lessons are very challenging to make, and my subject involves a lot of written scientific communication - so giving students feedback on their writing is very important. AI isn't going to do that.

I was actually in a district that implemented furloughs (in CA, 2009-2015) before I moved here. They cut 3 weeks out of the school year (and reduced our pay). I actually didn't mind because we got 2 weeks spring break, full week at thanksgiving, and 3 weeks at Christmas. Lots of people were upset because they had budgeted for the full salary and this wasn't just one year... it went on for years. It really did hurt the district though- it's hard to retain teachers in a difficult environment.

Supposed to moving to Maryland in July, what is the latest on teaching in MD as I'm currently looking for work in the DMV! What traiing, if any did you get in online teaching and are they hiring?

[Anonymous]

19:30:

Some very simplistic live or recorded webinars and a few Zoom office hours were offered. Nothing really interactive though sometimes you could use the chat to ask questions.

Some staff had never used Canvas and had to be taught how to log on. These were not necessarily older employees. Apparently, a lot of the younger ES teachers were among those who needed a lot of support finding the trainings.

There are openings, but we don’t have a new contract. People are beginning to think MCPS May have intentionally stalled talks so that they can press for bad working conditions like no more duty-free lunch against the bad for MCEA optics of teachers striking just as schools reopen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: DL in Maryland is a joke. Let’s face it and save our money for a real education when public health permits it. The school can keep posting the random worksheets it doesn’t grade and the YouTube videos of other teachers. One teacher can do that for each grade in that state while we furlough the others. Then those teachers won’t need to whine about how hard it is to teach with their child care responsibilities.

We can treat these teachers equally to school nurses, bus drivers, custodians and paraeducators who have been struggling. And we can balance our budget this year and save the $ for real improvement in the future. I would much rather return to regular school but until that can be done let’s treat all our education professionals equally. Or if teachers want to actually teach live and grade like they really want to educate I am all for paying them. But paying them to sit at home and whine about how online is hard while they each post the same videos as the other 200 teachers in the district without follow up is not ok.

Flame away but we don’t have the extra money for fluff anymore. There are lots of virtual teaching jobs out there for those who actually teach that could be had by teachers who , as they say, actually want to teach.

I'm 1000% with you, OP. I have been shocked to find out how little teaching teachers actually do. Growing up in remember teachers working on lesson plans, etc. Come to find out now that the schools buy a curriculum with handouts etx and the teachers just spit out the canned lessons that were paid for.
I have yet to hear of a teacher helping a student who had a particular struggle like we had when I was growing up. Now, with DL, I'm convinced the teachers are a total joke.

Teaching should be done with AI that meets kids where they are, automatically customizes to their learning style and prods for their weaknesses and reinforces them.

Teachers are a joke, but when you see what they cost tax payers, its not so funny.

This post definitely makes me think that the quality of teachers will decline significantly in the future. More capable graduates will not be likely to choose teaching as a profession.

You're absolutely correct.

Yeah, probably not many well qualified people who want a job where people call you a "joke" and say that you just "spit out canned lessons that were paid for"-you need to get a life, honestly. Teaching should be done with AI? Okay, then why do you dislike distance learning? I would think that anything that brings teaching closer to automation would please you. Who will watch your children all day, since that seems to be the only function of teachers that you care for? Our robot replacements?

I have less and less concern for working parents as I see these threads ranting and raving about how teachers are lazy, dumb, whiners who you would like to lay off en masse. Okay, good luck with your children in the fall! Clearly, you don't need us. You're so angry that there is no school due to a global crisis that is completely out of our hands. You have zero respect for the people who run the schools and who raise YOUR children so you can work without feeling guilty about it. How about thanking the teachers who have made it possible for you and your partner to work for all these years? All these parents who say that schools are the economic engine of our country, yet who refuse to acknowledge that schools don't run themselves. You know what? Pay me for putting myself in harm's way and I'll consider it. Otherwise, I'm going to keep advocating to keep myself and MY family safe-you can do the same for yours.

Ugh! I can't believe someone wifh your iq is being paid to teach my children. You are replying to me. I am not a working parent. Assumptions are the antithesis of mental rigor.

The passive aggression is not something I want to see from someone in contact with my children.

And I dislike DL because its nothing at all like AI. You honestly are more clueless than I imagined a teached could be in 2020.

This is not an intelligent response. Lots of simple errors, childish insults, and no substance at all. Phrases like “wifh your iq” make it easy to understand why you don’t participate in the workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 60 students in each of my online summer classes this summer, so I guess I am a guinea pig for the theory in this thread...

So are the teachers at Arcola and Roscoe Nix elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

I changed positions recently. Rather than hire a new full timer, they hired a long-term sub. This was for a MS elective position. I can't help but wonder if this was partially a cost saving measure, but more likely they didn't want to get stuck with a full time hire that they didn't like very much. They had trouble finding a replacement that fit the program's requirements. Not uncommon for specific elective courses.