Anonymous wrote:I can't believe some people here believe the "teacher". Writing 2 pages in first grade? Really?

I am an actual MCPS high school teacher. I also have a 6th grader who has had to stay home after exposures, so I understand some of the ES parent frustrations. My thoughts:

I prefer in-person. My content and teaching style can work well over zoom, but interacting with students is impossible. I am also miserable talking to black boxes.

A lot of kids don't take COVID precautions seriously at all. Minimal effort for mask use. Usually the ones who dislike education and authority anyways.

I like my admin, but they don't really lead by example when it comes to supporting teachers. I hate the extra period a week doing emotional support or other MCPS trainings. Most staff and students feel it is a waste.

The kids are on the phones ALL OF THE TIME. Really hard to get them off. I seriously worry about their impulse control and need for constant entertainment. Teachers can't compete with the technology/entertainment value of these devices.

The pandemic has really accelerated the "teachers as facilitators" movement rather than teaching/lecturing/whole class activities. A lot of subjects seem to be organized around 5 to 10 minutes (max) of instruction and then assigning an online assignment for the rest of class. Much less hands-on or discussion. Hands-on and and discussion used to appeal to students, but it can't compete with their entertainment devices.

The COVID testing situation is unbearable. I had huge anxiety attacks before school restarted. I don't trust MCPS admin leadership. They say one thing and then never follow through or just lower the goalposts. Too much happy talk and not enough support.

I still like my job, but I worry about the kids more than anything. I constantly feel like I am not able to give them the best education. I used to be focused on hands-on activities more, but the obvious limits we have right now make that almost impossible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

You know "cleaning your classroom.every day" has negligible to nil effect on the spread of COVID, right?

Great, you managed to find something critical to say in response to this thoughtful post that a teacher took the time to write, in response to OP’s solicitation of teacher’s thoughts.

Hygiene isn’t a bad idea, even if it won’t prevent the spread of Covid.

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts as a teacher: I’m not worried about getting Covid and not particularly worried about the kids getting it, because omicron is so mild. But it’s impossible to teach under current conditions. We had 6 of 20 teachers out sick yesterday. No subs. No planning periods. Covering everybody’s classes any way possible. Most of the custodians out. It’s chaotic, dirty, and not much learning is happening.

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re telling me that your first graders are writing two pages every time they write? How interesting. And you’re taking credit for stopping covid from spreading even when they are in the cafeteria/specials or parents are traveling/kids are exposed outside of school hours yet bring it into the building. Ok.

Unfortunately many of us have read CDC protocols and have fully implemented mitigation practices into our lives, classrooms, and yet we still have felt the impacts of COVID; losing loved ones, long covid haulers which both myself and my students have experienced. Your post is what we call toxic positivity and is completely tone deaf. I’m glad it’s been such a breeze for you and unfortunately some of my students and myself have lost family members and are experiencing real trauma. They are scared, sad, and have strong emotions that a couple of brain breaks or peace moments doesn’t necessarily fix.

Despite the trauma, we are, like you, spending every moment of the school day trying to close achievement gaps while maintaining high expectations for each other. But sick kids aren’t available for learning, no matter how magical of a teacher you claim to be.

You do realize we have a new normal, right? COVID isn’t going away. I’m sorry for your losses, I’ve also had losses. I had COVID before vaccines came out, even though I’m really careful all the time.

We all have to find a way to adjust that doesn’t include closing the schools. I think that means training and hiring a lot more teachers and staff (nurses too). Enough damage has been done to the students and society from the closures. It’s time to recognize that MCPS needs to build up the teaching infrastructure to deal with absences and retirements. Some teachers will never feel comfortable in the classroom and probably should move on to another job.

NP. I am sure teachers and nurses are lining up so that they can put up with abuse from the likes of you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re telling me that your first graders are writing two pages every time they write? How interesting. And you’re taking credit for stopping covid from spreading even when they are in the cafeteria/specials or parents are traveling/kids are exposed outside of school hours yet bring it into the building. Ok.

Unfortunately many of us have read CDC protocols and have fully implemented mitigation practices into our lives, classrooms, and yet we still have felt the impacts of COVID; losing loved ones, long covid haulers which both myself and my students have experienced. Your post is what we call toxic positivity and is completely tone deaf. I’m glad it’s been such a breeze for you and unfortunately some of my students and myself have lost family members and are experiencing real trauma. They are scared, sad, and have strong emotions that a couple of brain breaks or peace moments doesn’t necessarily fix.

Despite the trauma, we are, like you, spending every moment of the school day trying to close achievement gaps while maintaining high expectations for each other. But sick kids aren’t available for learning, no matter how magical of a teacher you claim to be.

You do realize we have a new normal, right? COVID isn’t going away. I’m sorry for your losses, I’ve also had losses. I had COVID before vaccines came out, even though I’m really careful all the time.


+1. - Signed a disease conscious parent
We all have to find a way to adjust that doesn’t include closing the schools. I think that means training and hiring a lot more teachers and staff (nurses too). Enough damage has been done to the students and society from the closures. It’s time to recognize that MCPS needs to build up the teaching infrastructure to deal with absences and retirements. Some teachers will never feel comfortable in the classroom and probably should move on to another job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re telling me that your first graders are writing two pages every time they write? How interesting. And you’re taking credit for stopping covid from spreading even when they are in the cafeteria/specials or parents are traveling/kids are exposed outside of school hours yet bring it into the building. Ok.

Unfortunately many of us have read CDC protocols and have fully implemented mitigation practices into our lives, classrooms, and yet we still have felt the impacts of COVID; losing loved ones, long covid haulers which both myself and my students have experienced. Your post is what we call toxic positivity and is completely tone deaf. I’m glad it’s been such a breeze for you and unfortunately some of my students and myself have lost family members and are experiencing real trauma. They are scared, sad, and have strong emotions that a couple of brain breaks or peace moments doesn’t necessarily fix.

Despite the trauma, we are, like you, spending every moment of the school day trying to close achievement gaps while maintaining high expectations for each other. But sick kids aren’t available for learning, no matter how magical of a teacher you claim to be.

You do realize we have a new normal, right? COVID isn’t going away. I’m sorry for your losses, I’ve also had losses. I had COVID before vaccines came out, even though I’m really careful all the time.

We all have to find a way to adjust that doesn’t include closing the schools. I think that means training and hiring a lot more teachers and staff (nurses too). Enough damage has been done to the students and society from the closures. It’s time to recognize that MCPS needs to build up the teaching infrastructure to deal with absences and retirements. Some teachers will never feel comfortable in the classroom and probably should move on to another job.

Anonymous wrote:You’re telling me that your first graders are writing two pages every time they write? How interesting. And you’re taking credit for stopping covid from spreading even when they are in the cafeteria/specials or parents are traveling/kids are exposed outside of school hours yet bring it into the building. Ok.

Unfortunately many of us have read CDC protocols and have fully implemented mitigation practices into our lives, classrooms, and yet we still have felt the impacts of COVID; losing loved ones, long covid haulers which both myself and my students have experienced. Your post is what we call toxic positivity and is completely tone deaf. I’m glad it’s been such a breeze for you and unfortunately some of my students and myself have lost family members and are experiencing real trauma. They are scared, sad, and have strong emotions that a couple of brain breaks or peace moments doesn’t necessarily fix.

Despite the trauma, we are, like you, spending every moment of the school day trying to close achievement gaps while maintaining high expectations for each other. But sick kids aren’t available for learning, no matter how magical of a teacher you claim to be.

Anonymous wrote:The demands of this year do not bother me as I am very prepared for both virtual and in-person. I took virtual learning courses before the pandemic ironically and used all of my skills to be as effective as I could. I favor in-person learning 100%. We follow Covid-protocol, and I clean my own classroom every single day and have the lowest covid count in the school, 0. I read about covid-19, learned how to prevent it and followed the instructions from the CDC. My entire family has been just fine.

I AM concerned about lapses in social skills, language development and lack of number sense in my kids. We work around the clock in my classroom even practicing letter sounds, blends and sight words during bathroom breaks and we practice math facts on the way to specials, lunch and recess. We use every single minute of our day working on skills that these children need to be successful and I am seeing progress. When we do our daily writing, I expect every single kid to produce something and now I am having kids writing 2 pages and using proper punctuation, capitalization and spelling sight words correctly.

What I do not need: closures. This will inhibit our progress and the stability in which I have built in my classroom. We have a very good routine, follow procedures and regulate our emotions through zen breaks and mindfulness. I LOVE my class right now and believe we can move most of my class from red and orange into yellow and green, be emotionally ready for 2nd grade and recover as much as we can from the damage of the pandemic.