Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Personally, I don't trust many parents' assessments of how their children are "thriving" in DL.

Why not? Doe the first time have a front row seat and can see everything they are doing and how they’re reacting to it.

Because I don't think a lot of parents are very good at impartially assessing the academic progress of their kids, and we already know a lot of parents don't assess the emotional and mental health of their children well.

Maybe you are right. No one ever knows what is going on inside another’s head. Or even our own heads, come to think of it. We should stop trying to communicate, it is a futile endeavor.

One interesting point about students who are "thriving" that I've seen made in teaching forums involves concerns that less material is being covered in many places. Perhaps this isn't true everywhere, but with reduced expectations, more opportunities to make up late or missing work, less material covered each week and other aspects of virtual education, thriving under these circumstances could still lead to the majority of kids being very behind.

“Behind” what? Behind who? The material and the quantity of concepts taught is completely arbitrary. Yes this matters for older grades when AP tests and SATs come up, but most of the people worrying about kids being behind are the parents of elementary and middle schoolers. Just because my sixth grader is being taught fewer concepts in history doesn’t mean she isn’t thriving.

I’m not sure what school district you are in,but MCPS has a set curriculum that is followed in normal times. Much of it building upon what was learned the previous years. If they don’t get the full curriculum there will be a difficult adjustment when the curriculum goes back to normal. Also, a fair number of middle schoolers at our school start taking high school credits in 6th.

I am under no illusions that distance learning is as good as in-person learning, but for us, it’s going pretty well. My kids have play dates (outdoors, masked, social distanced, etc), they do a sport on occasion, they are learning a lot, their teachers care about them and teach well, etc.

But one huge thing is that they get to spend more time with their family and each other! I have grown much closer to my kids and since they are almost to the point of hating their parents, it has been wonderful to be able to be with them for lunches, to ask questions about specific things in class (I get so excited when my 6th grader asks for help with algebra), and my kids play with each other much more frequently.

There is more to thriving than learning lots of stuff and dealing with jerks at school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I don't trust many parents' assessments of how their children are "thriving" in DL.

Why not? Doe the first time have a front row seat and can see everything they are doing and how they’re reacting to it.

Because I don't think a lot of parents are very good at impartially assessing the academic progress of their kids, and we already know a lot of parents don't assess the emotional and mental health of their children well.

Maybe you are right. No one ever knows what is going on inside another’s head. Or even our own heads, come to think of it. We should stop trying to communicate, it is a futile endeavor.

One interesting point about students who are "thriving" that I've seen made in teaching forums involves concerns that less material is being covered in many places. Perhaps this isn't true everywhere, but with reduced expectations, more opportunities to make up late or missing work, less material covered each week and other aspects of virtual education, thriving under these circumstances could still lead to the majority of kids being very behind.

“Behind” what? Behind who? The material and the quantity of concepts taught is completely arbitrary. Yes this matters for older grades when AP tests and SATs come up, but most of the people worrying about kids being behind are the parents of elementary and middle schoolers. Just because my sixth grader is being taught fewer concepts in history doesn’t mean she isn’t thriving.

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know what school district the thriving kids are in. We are in fcps, and not thriving. I noticed a few pieces of info that suggested the posters are elsewhere, like recorded videos (we have no recorded videos and can't even access the classroom materials after the class ends), seeing friends on camera (our school doesn't use them), and so on.

My kids are doing fine (I’m super impressed with their teachers) and we are in APS. But sometimes I feel like I’m the only poster on DCUM who likes APS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know what school district the thriving kids are in. We are in fcps, and not thriving. I noticed a few pieces of info that suggested the posters are elsewhere, like recorded videos (we have no recorded videos and can't even access the classroom materials after the class ends), seeing friends on camera (our school doesn't use them), and so on.

This goes back to every school/teacher being a little bit different. I record every single lesson even when every student is in attendance and post it afterwards. And every handout or Google slide or web page is linked for them review in Google Classroom as well.

Sorry, I'm in FCPS.

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know what school district the thriving kids are in. We are in fcps, and not thriving. I noticed a few pieces of info that suggested the posters are elsewhere, like recorded videos (we have no recorded videos and can't even access the classroom materials after the class ends), seeing friends on camera (our school doesn't use them), and so on.

This goes back to every school being a little bit different. I record every single lesson even when every student is in attendance and post it afterwards. And every handout or Google slide or web page is linked for them review in Google Classroom as well.

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know what school district the thriving kids are in. We are in fcps, and not thriving. I noticed a few pieces of info that suggested the posters are elsewhere, like recorded videos (we have no recorded videos and can't even access the classroom materials after the class ends), seeing friends on camera (our school doesn't use them), and so on.

My young ES child is in FCPS and is doing just fine. That said, I would really like to know everyone's definition of thriving here. I wouldn't say my child is thriving because I take that word to mean that my child is doing better in DL than she would be doing in-person, and (a) I don't have have the in-person version of my kid's technologically-challenged teacher to compare her to), (b) the curriculum is very different from what it would be in-person, and (c) there are some things you just can't learn online.

With all of those caveats, my child is probably thriving when compared to other children. She IS learning, does all of her work mostly without complaining, asks for help when she needs it, doesn't have any issues with paying attention, etc... She's also an introvert, and has a younger sibling she is very close with, a neighborhood friend she plays outside with a couple times a week (masked, of course), and a couple online extracurriculars, so she has a little bit of a social life, too.

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know what school district the thriving kids are in. We are in fcps, and not thriving. I noticed a few pieces of info that suggested the posters are elsewhere, like recorded videos (we have no recorded videos and can't even access the classroom materials after the class ends), seeing friends on camera (our school doesn't use them), and so on.

Henrico.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Good teachers and involved parents. We make sure ours logs on, participates and does assignments. We check and verify assignments were done. No tutor but one parent he,ps a lot with math. We always supplemented prior.

I think this is kind of a naive response.

For some kids, even if they have good parents (like you!) and good teachers, they're still going to struggle. Have some humility.

This is me - very involved. Kid is still struggling. Just sits and stares at the computer. I can’t force him to concentrate, focus, or participate even if I sit there. I can punish him to misery to get him to do assignments - which we’ve done and life is truly miserable.

NOT working for my child. We also have a tutor.

This is our experience exactly. We are fcps.

I'm curious to know what school district the thriving kids are in. We are in fcps, and not thriving. I noticed a few pieces of info that suggested the posters are elsewhere, like recorded videos (we have no recorded videos and can't even access the classroom materials after the class ends), seeing friends on camera (our school doesn't use them), and so on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good teachers and involved parents. We make sure ours logs on, participates and does assignments. We check and verify assignments were done. No tutor but one parent he,ps a lot with math. We always supplemented prior.

I think this is kind of a naive response.

For some kids, even if they have good parents (like you!) and good teachers, they're still going to struggle. Have some humility.

This is me - very involved. Kid is still struggling. Just sits and stares at the computer. I can’t force him to concentrate, focus, or participate even if I sit there. I can punish him to misery to get him to do assignments - which we’ve done and life is truly miserable.

NOT working for my child. We also have a tutor.

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Anonymous wrote:More sleep for DC. Our public school is also super organized, with a good virtual board that shows what's due every day for the next 2 weeks. All the teachers make summary notes with what they thought in the class that day, so it's easy to review with the child. Every teacher stays online from 2:30 to 3:30 after school for questions, extra help, tutoring etc. My child struggles with organization IRL so he loves this setup. He wants to stay virtual.

What grade is this?

7th.

I'm also adding that he's doing sports outdoors year around and we let him play outdoors with other kids. My other one is in elementary school and he's doing private, in person; virtual would not work for him at his age. It's very much dependent on age.

You did not give dL a chance so how can you say it’s not working when you child is not doing it. My middle schooler is happy with it and does not want to go back until Covid is under control as they understand the spread. You are raising a selfish inflexible child.

I'm pretty sure this same troll, who posts over and over, cannot read, or at least cannot read English.

PP, I was thinking about your reasons why your DS likes DL. Obviously, you've covered the social needs through sports. As a parent with three kids in school, it is easy for the sporty kid than it is for the less sporty one. One of my kids goes to a private school. He has executive function issues and we had to move him because he just couldn't succeed in in public school. We found it too difficult to monitor and supervise his work and to hold him accountable for a number of reasons, including the facts that many teachers did not post assignments online, offer any course outlines, and grade in a timely manner (and the school refused to give him a 504). The consistent routine of his small private school along with an academic support teacher transformed him into a completely different student. I was thinking that if this DL arrangement would have come about after that miserable last year in public school when he was failing at everything and we were constantly yelling at him and punishing him, I would have absolutely loved DL for the reasons you mentioned.

PP, you nailed it. Mine has ADD and DL is so successful for us because now everything and everyone is organized and we know well in advance when things are due.

When I was in school, our teachers taught us how to use planners to keep track of assignments. My child's school also did this. But if yours does not, teach your child to write down assignments and check the planner. If they can't handle this now, when adults around them want them to succeed, how are they going to manage college and/or holding down a job?

Did you miss that my child has ADD? He's only 12 and we're working on developing his executive skills. ADHD kids reach 50% of their peak frontal brain regions development at almost 15, while normal kids reach it at 12. I'm a super organized person and I used to get so upset with him but his brain is wired differently. My husband also has ADD and he's managing the entire east coast of a huge biotech company, so I'm confident that my child will not end up living under a bridge.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is BS and should be deleted for being misleading and stupid. Let me here about how well your kids are " thriving" under DL.
Deranged poster: no. You don't know your kids. Have humility. They aren't " thriving" , it's a facade. They are really suffering.
Parents: my child gets all As and plays sports
DP: well, my son does not play sports and misses the social aspect of school, so yours is too, so they are not "thriving"


We know our kids, and if we say they're well, they are fine. Go take care of your sad son Debbie downer and leave us alone. Kill this thread please.

+1 Why must everyone think that just because their child is suffering, every child is suffering? Every child is different. This thread arguing over whose kid is thriving v not thriving and why is pointless.

My child has a reading tutor because he is behind grade level in reading. Other than that, he's doing fine with DL.

“ One interesting point about students who are "thriving" that I've seen made in teaching forums involves concerns that less material is being covered in many places. Perhaps this isn't true everywhere, but with reduced expectations, more opportunities to make up late or missing work, less material covered each week and other aspects of virtual education, thriving under these circumstances could still lead to the majority of kids being very behind.”

I just posted about my kids going really well - but I recognize that is in the context of what they are assigned. I gave up on trying to force them to supplement.