How is first day going for DCPS kids?

[Anonymous]

Let's hear it. The good, the bad and the ugly.

[Anonymous]

First day of virtual PK4 with a nanny share. Same charter as last year. DD was bouncing off the walls excited to "see" her teachers and friends again, and teacher just texted me to say she had fun and did great. Excited to hear more when I pick her up this afternoon.

[Anonymous]

I think it went ok, we were able to log in, the teacher walked them through Canvas, the schedule, etc. then had a lesson, played a quiz game, and then answered general student and then parent questions. Lots of how do I mute, chat, find other classes type questions. I think once everyone gets the hang of it things will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Missed the first 15 minutes of the day because no one told us (or a lot of others in my kid's class) that you had to re-sign in to Teams to join a meeting. They just said to click on the link out of Canvas and you're in, so we sat there waiting to get let in to the meeting until another parent figured it out.

The teacher also didn't turn off the chat function so half the class (4th grade, WOTP school) clearly was tuning her out and just chatting amongst themselves.

[Anonymous]

It went pretty well. Better for my 5th grader than our 3rd grader. A lot of chatter and show and tell (by default) for the younger kid along with not having great attention spans.

[Anonymous]

Well it's only 11:30 and I've cried twice. We're using a tiny iPod like device that the school provided and it's hard to figure out how to switch back and forth between Teams and Canvas (at least for me--maybe I'm just stupid). I seriously don't know who I'm going to manage my job and the kids on doing school from home. I hope it gets easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well it's only 11:30 and I've cried twice. We're using a tiny iPod like device that the school provided and it's hard to figure out how to switch back and forth between Teams and Canvas (at least for me--maybe I'm just stupid). I seriously don't know who I'm going to manage my job and the kids on doing school from home. I hope it gets easier.

How old are the kiddos?

[Anonymous]

If you are going to reply please include grade for kid(s). Otherwise the data point is useless. I understand that ECE thinks they are the center of CPS and the universe, but the DL experience that truly matters to continued educational success is well beyond PK3 (with all due respect).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Missed the first 15 minutes of the day because no one told us (or a lot of others in my kid's class) that you had to re-sign in to Teams to join a meeting. They just said to click on the link out of Canvas and you're in, so we sat there waiting to get let in to the meeting until another parent figured it out.

The teacher also didn't turn off the chat function so half the class (4th grade, WOTP school) clearly was tuning her out and just chatting amongst themselves.

Hopefully tomorrow is better.

[Anonymous]

Ugh I was able to clear my schedule all day except for a 30 minute window and of course that’s when my DD (1st grade) needs a ton of help with the technology. Hoping they easily get the hang of this.

[Anonymous]

PK4 was a shit show. I'm surprised how many people had nannies/tutors. It didn't look like anyone podded up

[Anonymous]

So far, so good (3rd). The teacher seems organized and enthusiastic, they are taking the time to walk the kids through the different apps and technologies they'll be using, and everyone is taking the inevitable technical hitches in stride. And the principal dropped in during morning meeting, which my kid enjoyed.

[Anonymous]

First day - lots of happy faces and chatter and getting to know each other activities. Seemed to go very well. The teacher went through the schedule, the materials that were sent home (books, guides, all kinds of supplies) and the links and online programs that will be used.

I started to get excited about this school year last week when my child received a "gift box" from her teacher with books, games, art supplies and more. I am really impressed with what was given on top of the laptop and offer of internet support (we didn't need this as our internet is sufficient). Plus my kid acted like she was getting a second birthday when the box arrived.

There will be live instruction every day with morning and afternoon sessions Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and morning only on Wednesday.

The bad and ugly are that many families don't have great internet at home and there are kids who desperately need to be in person more than others. Out of 20 kids or so online, at least 3-4 had bad reception, lots of static and couldn't hear or couldn't be heard. There was one kid who just hated being online but stayed on and participated with his parent at his side.

Overall, I want school to reopen in person but, so far, the school's response is better than expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh I was able to clear my schedule all day except for a 30 minute window and of course that’s when my DD (1st grade) needs a ton of help with the technology. Hoping they easily get the hang of this.

pp here, my DD did say she is very happy to be back in school and is having a great day. She’s had more live instruction today than late March - May combined and I appreciate the effort from her teacher and school.

[Anonymous]

5th grader- so far, so good. We started off on the wrong foot by logging into teams when in fact we needed to go to Canvas instead. (And, despite this being a DCPS device, it says that both Chrome and Firefox are not supported browsers.)

My DC has been engaged for the most part. Now on lunch break.

We are having a no video game policy until after school. Do any other parents have similar bans on tech outside of school during the school day?