In person options are deceptive

[Anonymous]

My child's high school offered a survey where they would attend in person "CARES" classrooms and Wednesday non instructional learning. My 16 year old doesn't need babysitting. There was no option in the survey to say we wanted "real" in person learning so my answers made it seem like I didn't want my child to go back at all, which I do! Why would she schlepp across the city on the metro to attend distance learning class on any given day? What is the benefit? When are we going to go to a real teacher in the classroom? What are they waiting for? Most teachers are or will be vaccinated, I'm vaccinated, and soon 16 and above will be as well. What is the issue that remains, am I missing something? I'm really losing hope that high schools are going to be back to in person in the fall. Not this fake learning. Real live teachers teaching real live classes.

[Anonymous]

I assume your student is at Walls.
Isn't it interesting that we are trying to teach our children to be critical thinkers - but the administration designs that survey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume your student is at Walls.
Isn't it interesting that we are trying to teach our children to be critical thinkers - but the administration designs that survey.

Why offer people something you know you can’t deliver on. My husband’s oncologist didn’t offer him our preferred choice where the tumor was magicked out of his body instead of surgery, chemo, or radiation. The doctor was deceptive, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume your student is at Walls.
Isn't it interesting that we are trying to teach our children to be critical thinkers - but the administration designs that survey.

Yes! I hated that survey, it was just cares classroom options and nothing to ask us instead of all this would you prefer xy or z? It felt like a trap - "we offered you in person school and you didn't want it"...that's not in person school. I don't know the right answer but to see so many friends in other states whos kids barely left school it feels like DC is so conservative about this they won't be back next year either...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume your student is at Walls.
Isn't it interesting that we are trying to teach our children to be critical thinkers - but the administration designs that survey.

Why offer people something you know you can’t deliver on. My husband’s oncologist didn’t offer him our preferred choice where the tumor was magicked out of his body instead of surgery, chemo, or radiation. The doctor was deceptive, I guess.

This was my reaction, too. They didn't ask you if you wanted "real" in-person because that's not an option right now. Our school asked us our preference for DL/IP when IP was going to be a real option if there was enough interest.

[Anonymous]

Teachers I know who were not teaching in person in February are struggling to get vaccination appointments. It is outrageous to pretend like in-person school is a priority and then not vaccinate all the teachers.

The mayor says she doesn't know if all teachers will have the opportunity to be vaccinated before returning in April.

https://twitter.com/PerryStein/status/1371503002801082369

[Anonymous]

This is how surveys work. They are asking you what you prefer, out of the given options. What you are asking for isn’t currently an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers I know who were not teaching in person in February are struggling to get vaccination appointments. It is outrageous to pretend like in-person school is a priority and then not vaccinate all the teachers.

The mayor says she doesn't know if all teachers will have the opportunity to be vaccinated before returning in April.

https://twitter.com/PerryStein/status/1371503002801082369

Wow - this just seems crazy. I still don't understand why they aren't offering another teacher only event? It seems to easy to count how many still need/want it and set aside that many and vaccinate on a Wednesday or weekend and get it done. The mayor will never understand until her child is old enough for her to care. Teachers and support staff should be our #1 priority right now. All other essential workers have been working in person this entire time regardless of vaccine so if the only thing holding teachers back is getting vaccinated now let's just do it. And now that DC is going to offer vaccines to all 16 and older let's have teachers of those students plan to teach from the classroom in the fall with those kids who don't want/can't to be there learning from home. Yes there are technical hurdles to this but they should have saved a ton of money in other areas to pay for it! The pandemic is not going away for several years. Walls isn't getting bigger...find a way to make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is how surveys work. They are asking you what you prefer, out of the given options. What you are asking for isn’t currently an option.

Yes, that's true, however couldn't they have added the option that instead of all these, given the opportunity would you prefer a hybrid in person option with a live teacher...or something like that...the amount of surveys that don't meet the needs of anyone who doesn't need/want to be babysat by support staff is silly. Especially at Walls. Every school is different I know but most of these kids don't need a babysitter so the options they are presenting are a waste of time. My child wants to interact with her classmates in some way and not go to school and have so many rules they can barely move. There must be a way on Wednesday's at least to have activities where the class can do outdoor activities with other students in a safe manner if anything. I was going to choose Wednesday "non instructional" option but it didn't outline what they meant by that. If it's study hall no. If it's an outdoor activity with classmates led by staff, yes. They need to be a little more detailed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how surveys work. They are asking you what you prefer, out of the given options. What you are asking for isn’t currently an option.

Yes, that's true, however couldn't they have added the option that instead of all these, given the opportunity would you prefer a hybrid in person option with a live teacher...or something like that...the amount of surveys that don't meet the needs of anyone who doesn't need/want to be babysat by support staff is silly. Especially at Walls. Every school is different I know but most of these kids don't need a babysitter so the options they are presenting are a waste of time. My child wants to interact with her classmates in some way and not go to school and have so many rules they can barely move. There must be a way on Wednesday's at least to have activities where the class can do outdoor activities with other students in a safe manner if anything. I was going to choose Wednesday "non instructional" option but it didn't outline what they meant by that. If it's study hall no. If it's an outdoor activity with classmates led by staff, yes. They need to be a little more detailed.

Absolutely nothing is stopping you from emailing the Walls admin with these suggestions. But the survey was likely to gauge interest in CARES classrooms, not identify people's preferences more generally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers I know who were not teaching in person in February are struggling to get vaccination appointments. It is outrageous to pretend like in-person school is a priority and then not vaccinate all the teachers.

The mayor says she doesn't know if all teachers will have the opportunity to be vaccinated before returning in April.

https://twitter.com/PerryStein/status/1371503002801082369

The CDC has said that teachers don't need to be vaccinated to go back. It is fine for them to be in a priority group but thousands of people across the city have ben working in person for the last year without getting vaccinations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers I know who were not teaching in person in February are struggling to get vaccination appointments. It is outrageous to pretend like in-person school is a priority and then not vaccinate all the teachers.

The mayor says she doesn't know if all teachers will have the opportunity to be vaccinated before returning in April.

https://twitter.com/PerryStein/status/1371503002801082369

Wow - this just seems crazy. I still don't understand why they aren't offering another teacher only event? It seems to easy to count how many still need/want it and set aside that many and vaccinate on a Wednesday or weekend and get it done. The mayor will never understand until her child is old enough for her to care. Teachers and support staff should be our #1 priority right now. All other essential workers have been working in person this entire time regardless of vaccine so if the only thing holding teachers back is getting vaccinated now let's just do it. And now that DC is going to offer vaccines to all 16 and older let's have teachers of those students plan to teach from the classroom in the fall with those kids who don't want/can't to be there learning from home. Yes there are technical hurdles to this but they should have saved a ton of money in other areas to pay for it! The pandemic is not going away for several years. Walls isn't getting bigger...find a way to make it happen.

Because there aren't enough vaccines in DC? Is that not a known fact? We get allotments week by week. Many in my school went to the school only events but everyone couldn't get scheduled once they ran out of the allocation available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers I know who were not teaching in person in February are struggling to get vaccination appointments. It is outrageous to pretend like in-person school is a priority and then not vaccinate all the teachers.

The mayor says she doesn't know if all teachers will have the opportunity to be vaccinated before returning in April.

https://twitter.com/PerryStein/status/1371503002801082369

The CDC has said that teachers don't need to be vaccinated to go back. It is fine for them to be in a priority group but thousands of people across the city have ben working in person for the last year without getting vaccinations[/quote

With vaccinations available (including J&J, which provides immunity essentially 2 weeks after the shot), I think it is ABSURD that we would ask teachers to go back in person without prioritizing them for vaccinations. Quite frankly, given how poorly ventilated and cleaned our schools are, I do not think the CDC perspective that it is "safe" is relevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how surveys work. They are asking you what you prefer, out of the given options. What you are asking for isn’t currently an option.

Yes, that's true, however couldn't they have added the option that instead of all these, given the opportunity would you prefer a hybrid in person option with a live teacher...or something like that...the amount of surveys that don't meet the needs of anyone who doesn't need/want to be babysat by support staff is silly. Especially at Walls. Every school is different I know but most of these kids don't need a babysitter so the options they are presenting are a waste of time. My child wants to interact with her classmates in some way and not go to school and have so many rules they can barely move. There must be a way on Wednesday's at least to have activities where the class can do outdoor activities with other students in a safe manner if anything. I was going to choose Wednesday "non instructional" option but it didn't outline what they meant by that. If it's study hall no. If it's an outdoor activity with classmates led by staff, yes. They need to be a little more detailed.

What would be the point of doing that?

Do restaurants tell you dishes that they don’t serve? Do car dealers describe features that can’t be installed?

The survey is NOT needed as research to see if there’s interest in “real” school with a “real” teacher. We already know there’s interest. Very vocal interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how surveys work. They are asking you what you prefer, out of the given options. What you are asking for isn’t currently an option.

Yes, that's true, however couldn't they have added the option that instead of all these, given the opportunity would you prefer a hybrid in person option with a live teacher...or something like that...the amount of surveys that don't meet the needs of anyone who doesn't need/want to be babysat by support staff is silly. Especially at Walls. Every school is different I know but most of these kids don't need a babysitter so the options they are presenting are a waste of time. My child wants to interact with her classmates in some way and not go to school and have so many rules they can barely move. There must be a way on Wednesday's at least to have activities where the class can do outdoor activities with other students in a safe manner if anything. I was going to choose Wednesday "non instructional" option but it didn't outline what they meant by that. If it's study hall no. If it's an outdoor activity with classmates led by staff, yes. They need to be a little more detailed.

Your HIGH SCHOOLER doesn’t need you to coordinate activity time with peers for them. They can do it themselves. Reach out to other families or the PTA if you’re looking for opportunities for students to connect outside of academic time. Teachers and admin are concerned with instructional time only.