Anonymous wrote:Let's face it, most of our kids will likely need to repeat whatever grade they are currently in.

APS has done a poor job with distance learning, and teachers need to step up and start thinking about how to support and brainstorm on what needs to get done to get back into the classroom, even part-time/hybrid.

To the best of my knowledge, from what I've seen, this is all coming from parents advocating for their children.

Where are the teacher voices here advocating for how to make classrooms and schools safe?

Anonymous wrote:

So after she did her part (telling me his progress or how little she knows about him), I asked for his reading level so I could make sure he was reading appropriate level books. She said that she had no way of knowing his reading level, but they hoped to start assessing them before Christmas.

What grade? APS teacher here again. All k-2 has done PALS but it wasn’t complete by conferences. 3-5 is finishing up DIBELS testing which we didn’t start until Nov 4. So, either way she should now have data to share. DIBELS doesn’t give a reading level like PALS does, it’s more of a benchmarking screener but it can tell you if then student is able to read and comprehend to grade level benchmarks (but not give you a specific level like DRA OR Lexile).

Anonymous wrote:as an APS teacher, I agree with you. I really hate that all parents have to preface everything with "I know teachers are working so hard" and "you are so amazing" so they don't come off as horrible and get beaten down by the crowd. distance learning sucks. I'm a HS teacher and hate that I am only allowed to be on camera with each class for 45 minutes twice a week (I'm not an AP teacher).

I am NOT familiar with elementary, so this next thought doesn't apply to younger grades, but I'm so fed up with secondary teachers saying they are working 15+ hour days and are such martyrs. they'd have to be ridiculously incompetent to need such long hours to transfer a class online that they've been teaching for years. I very much agree that some teachers are riding the DL train because they like working from home better (who doesn't?). I'm probably just jaded from reading too much AEM where parents have to bow down to teachers before asking a question, and then teachers jump down their throats about how parents are so privileged and don't care about the lives of teachers. eye roll. while it's not feasible this week due to rising numbers, I do believe we should be back in the classrooms (and should have been since september). DL doesn't work for many, MANY students. mine are suffering, mentally if not academically.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just stop. It isn’t minimal effort. It isn’t teachers taking advantage. I’m so tired of you privileged APS whiners complaining.

x1 million

Just stop. The pandemic sucks. DL sucks. Teachers are doing their best in a crappy situation.

No they aren’t. Their best would be pushing the administration to be in person providing appropriate education. Any thing else is less than the best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just stop. It isn’t minimal effort. It isn’t teachers taking advantage. I’m so tired of you privileged APS whiners complaining.

x1 million

Just stop. The pandemic sucks. DL sucks. Teachers are doing their best in a crappy situation.

No they aren’t. Their best would be pushing the administration to be in person providing appropriate education. Any thing else is less than the best.

So after she did her part (telling me his progress or how little she knows about him), I asked for his reading level so I could make sure he was reading appropriate level books. She said that she had no way of knowing his reading level, but they hoped to start assessing them before Christmas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP,

This only means you are used to lots of hand holding, like many of your fellow Americans.

South Korea, which has better educational metrics by far than the USA, has no live lessons during distance learning. Neither do many of the world’s wealthiest nations, most of which do better than the USA in terms of math and literacy in international comparisons (in math, they ALL do better). Families receive recorded lessons and worksheets. They get the job down.

Stop whining.

DCUM is full of some of the planet's softest people.

ARLINGTON is full of the world’s softest people: “Open Schools Now” in the middle of a pandemic because Johnny misses his friends. The only reason he is out massless playing with dozens of boys is because school isn’t open. And he keeps leaving his desk to play video games. I blame APS.

These parents are all just too much. I have sympathy for parents of kids with disabilities or severe mental health issues. They need help and they need in person school. Also families who MUST work in person should have a facility to send their kids to. The rest of you need to grow up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ones who you think are “taking advantage” of the distance learning format were probably crappy teachers anyway. There are always people who are unmotivated and bad at their jobs. So yeah there is no connection to the amount of in-person time our kids get and the quality of the teacher.

Also when my child is doing independent work, the teacher is usually working in small groups with other kids. Just because you don’t see the teacher on the screen doesn’t mean the teacher isn’t working!

So one of my kids teachers JUST started small groups this week— and it’s only for math. She said at our conference that she had no evidence for determining his reading level or if he was meeting expectations for writing. That’s shocking! I get she’s overwhelmed but what reading instruction has my kid been getting for the past eight weeks?
There is such a discrepancy between schools that I don’t think you can really compare...

How come you didn't ask the teacher for evidence of their progress? Work samples? Anything?

Like... do people just let the teacher talk and then never ask questions? Is getting mad online your only recourse?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 2.5 months into distance learning, and my husband and I are so disappointed with the APS elementary instruction. The "live" portion of instruction amounts to roughly 12 hours/week. Mondays are teacher workdays, Tues-Fri is 9-2:20 with more than half that time spent on breaks or independent learning. Even "live teacher reading" is recorded, along with minimal grading and interaction with the teacher. We have lots of respect teachers and maybe it's just our school, but we are fed-up with the minimal effort here. Add in the 2 days of additional asynchronous learning in November for preparing for hybrid learning that was cancelled, the amount of effort put forth for our child's education right now is dismal.

I'm sorry to write this, but I feel that "some" teachers are taking advantage of this situation and a very large proportion of these teachers are also hoping to remain with DL. Teachers should be considered essential workers and the hybrid model has to become a priority for early 2021.

When the world is in the middle of a pandemic that leaves many dead or with long term issues, teachers are NOT essential employees.

People like doctors, nurses, scientists, grocery employees, food factory workers, etc. ARE essential.

Making sure people are in good health, have food, have water, and have shelter are the priorities. You know, things that help keep your fellow humans alive.

I have been saying this for months. Teachers are not essential employees. Essential employees are those that are needed to sustain life. Teachers are just trying to do their job like everybody else. It would be easier for parents if they were deemed essential, but that's not the way it is.

You do realize access education has be shown over and over to be directly tied to lifespans. It’s what raises you out of poverty. Any teacher that thinks they are not essential need to go. See ya!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just stop. It isn’t minimal effort. It isn’t teachers taking advantage. I’m so tired of you privileged APS whiners complaining.

x1 million

Just stop. The pandemic sucks. DL sucks. Teachers are doing their best in a crappy situation.

No they aren’t. Their best would be pushing the administration to be in person providing appropriate education. Any thing else is less than the best.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just stop. It isn’t minimal effort. It isn’t teachers taking advantage. I’m so tired of you privileged APS whiners complaining.

x1 million

Just stop. The pandemic sucks. DL sucks. Teachers are doing their best in a crappy situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 2.5 months into distance learning, and my husband and I are so disappointed with the APS elementary instruction. The "live" portion of instruction amounts to roughly 12 hours/week. Mondays are teacher workdays, Tues-Fri is 9-2:20 with more than half that time spent on breaks or independent learning. Even "live teacher reading" is recorded, along with minimal grading and interaction with the teacher. We have lots of respect teachers and maybe it's just our school, but we are fed-up with the minimal effort here. Add in the 2 days of additional asynchronous learning in November for preparing for hybrid learning that was cancelled, the amount of effort put forth for our child's education right now is dismal.

I'm sorry to write this, but I feel that "some" teachers are taking advantage of this situation and a very large proportion of these teachers are also hoping to remain with DL. Teachers should be considered essential workers and the hybrid model has to become a priority for early 2021.

When the world is in the middle of a pandemic that leaves many dead or with long term issues, teachers are NOT essential employees.

People like doctors, nurses, scientists, grocery employees, food factory workers, etc. ARE essential.

Making sure people are in good health, have food, have water, and have shelter are the priorities. You know, things that help keep your fellow humans alive.

I have been saying this for months. Teachers are not essential employees. Essential employees are those that are needed to sustain life. Teachers are just trying to do their job like everybody else. It would be easier for parents if they were deemed essential, but that's not the way it is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:as an APS teacher, I agree with you. I really hate that all parents have to preface everything with "I know teachers are working so hard" and "you are so amazing" so they don't come off as horrible and get beaten down by the crowd. distance learning sucks. I'm a HS teacher and hate that I am only allowed to be on camera with each class for 45 minutes twice a week (I'm not an AP teacher).

I am NOT familiar with elementary, so this next thought doesn't apply to younger grades, but I'm so fed up with secondary teachers saying they are working 15+ hour days and are such martyrs. they'd have to be ridiculously incompetent to need such long hours to transfer a class online that they've been teaching for years. I very much agree that some teachers are riding the DL train because they like working from home better (who doesn't?). I'm probably just jaded from reading too much AEM where parents have to bow down to teachers before asking a question, and then teachers jump down their throats about how parents are so privileged and don't care about the lives of teachers. eye roll. while it's not feasible this week due to rising numbers, I do believe we should be back in the classrooms (and should have been since september). DL doesn't work for many, MANY students. mine are suffering, mentally if not academically.

+10000 Thank you for voicing this and not berating the posters with concerns over how DL is being handled. I find it interesting how quickly folks are to attack parent posters who are frustrated. They can dish it out, but they can't take it