The issue in our district is that there’s absolutely zero instruction on the non in person days, and the teachers have to prepare separate work packets for at home days. So i think they may actually prefer the model yours wants to do. I know I would.
It is more work but much better for both sets of kids (those remote and those in person) to do completely asynchronous work on the home days.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I would not be surprised if talking to the health department was a lie. The health department never ever not once reached out to us as a smaller government organization than a school. 8 months into the pandemic and we are yet to have a single conversation (I know my boss can reach out too). Although I know our school district is in contact, but only because we’ve had cases.
I’ve said this a few times so it’s probably not new. But I need my e-learner child out of the house. Strictly virtual has been more academically rigorous, but I just can’t with my child being here all the time.
My hybrid student is doing OK. They have 1 morning meeting and the rest is asynchronous. I’m done comparing education models anymore. There are other important reasons to be IN school.
We had a reopening committee with select teachers, administrators and union reps back in August.
It’s November- k3am’s school had months to come up with an in person plan and yet they did nothing. Even if it wasn’t safe to implement the in person plan (which it is where you are), they still need to have a plan for when the possibility occurs.
The issue in our district is that there’s absolutely zero instruction on the non in person days, and the teachers have to prepare separate work packets for at home days. So i think they may actually prefer the model yours wants to do. I know I would.
It is more work but much better for both sets of kids (those remote and those in person) to do completely asynchronous work on the home days.
erbear - I’m not a teacher so can you explain why it’s better to do asynchronous work on the off days?
Both of my kids had to participate remotely over the past week due to COVID testing and waiting for results. They zoomed in to their classroom and participated as they normally would if they were in school. DD1 (my ADHD, NLD kid) even said that she felt like she did better participating that way - she was able to focus more and wasn’t so distracted by things in the classroom. DD2 did fine - I could hear her participating - she just missed her friends. It was significantly better than when they were doing mostly asynchronous learning in the spring.
I’m considering keeping them home next term for a few reasons, some of which seem to be resolving... but I’m wondering what I’m missing.
mae0111,because to have the teacher trying to teach in and out of class at the same time is a lesson in frustration for everyone - kids in class, kids out of class, and the teacher. Remote learning is meant to be largely asynchronous with checkins with a teacher to ask questions, engage in discussion, clarify points, etc. No cyber school has kids on a computer, live, for 8 hours. It's not good pedagogy.
In an ideal world, remote learners have a full time teacher for just remote learners. That person is providing a slate of independent work (with videos, discussion boards, assignments), then checking in for 20-30 minutes a couple of times a day. In a hybrid classroom with the same teacher (this is my situation), I am leaving assignments for my remote kids, then meeting with them later in the day to discuss what we're working on.
It's great that it's working for your kid. Your school must have good resources and technology. When I try to zoom my remote kids in, they can't hear anything the other kids are saying, and they can only hear me if I'm tethered to my computer and teaching like everyone is remote, which I am not, because that's not good for the in-person kids.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Teachers assigned to remote students makes the most sense. In the spring DD had zero instruction, and it all fell to the parents. Total asynchronous didn’t work at all.
Full remote is 2.5 hours of instruction and 2.5 hours asynchronous.
Hybrid is asynchronous at home except for 1 morning meeting. I’m sure that makes it easier for the teacher.
However, I’m just going to go with what works for the year to get us through. So if kids are zooming in and it’s working for their class/ school I’m OK with it. I’m not a teacher anymore, and I am glad I left the teaching field especially this year. It has to be sooo hard.
But I think I’ve just decided this year we are going to muddle through and hope we have a vaccine/ get this under control for next school year.
erbear - that makes sense. Our school did invest in tech to ensure that live learning could continue for all. Teachers wear mics, cameras are installed around the room so that the camera angle changed as the teacher moves. The teacher can switch the screen to display what’s on the smart board. So DD2 could hear her teacher and all of her classmates, and see everything they were working on. She was jumping in right alongside the rest of the class.
DD1 was in a strange spot while she was home because her teachers were zooming in from home while quarantining. Maybe she would have felt differently if the teachers were in the room while she was zooming in.
Our district has provided every teacher with a ONE camera, no mics. The cameras don’t work well. They don’t pick up details like writing on white boards. They also have some security issues that teachers are concerned with.
Teachers aren’t even using them in their empty classrooms.
The announced a plan that the union hasn’t agreed to it. My guess is they don’t. They’re just trying to check the box and shut up people asking for a return to in class instruction.
mae0111 ,because to have the teacher trying to teach in and out of class at the same time is a lesson in frustration for everyone - kids in class, kids out of class, and the teacher. Remote learning is meant to be largely asynchronous with checkins with a teacher to ask questions, engage in discussion, clarify points, etc. No cyber school has kids on a computer, live, for 8 hours. It's not good pedagogy.
We're in this model and while I had great reservations my kid says it is fine both at home and in person when she goes in BUT the in person class is always smaller than the home portion. This is middle school so that is a factor in how it is working as well. She's online 4+ hours a day when she's home so it is a long day.
The elementary we left had completely asynchronous off days for hybrid and families hated it. Now there is more live teaching on home days which has improved parents sense of the program.
mae0111 ,because to have the teacher trying to teach in and out of class at the same time is a lesson in frustration for everyone - kids in class, kids out of class, and the teacher. Remote learning is meant to be largely asynchronous with checkins with a teacher to ask questions, engage in discussion, clarify points, etc. No cyber school has kids on a computer, live, for 8 hours. It's not good pedagogy.
We're in this model and while I had great reservations my kid says it is fine both at home and in person when she goes in BUT the in person class is always smaller than the home portion. This is middle school so that is a factor in how it is working as well. She's online 4+ hours a day when she's home so it is a long day.
The elementary we left had completely asynchronous off days for hybrid and families hated it. Now there is more live teaching on home days which has improved parents sense of the program.
Interesting. I teach middle (8th) and my remote kids are begging for independent work instead. They hate being zoomed into classes. I wonder if part of it is because we are on a block (90 minutes) and that is a long ass time to be frustrated.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Idealistically, I very much want to support large city public school districts and teacher unions.
Practically though, I found the bureaucracy extremely difficult to navigate. The teacher union had entire classrooms of fired teachers (for cause) being paid to just sit there. There were some very large obstacles to efficacy. And lots of bitter veteran teachers.
I’m sure it’s different everywhere, but that was my experience many years ago with one large school district. I ended up moving on from that job quickly.
We're in this model and while I had great reservations my kid says it is fine both at home and in person when she goes in BUT the in person class is always smaller than the home portion. This is middle school so that is a factor in how it is working as well. She's online 4+ hours a day when she's home so it is a long day.
The elementary we left had completely asynchronous off days for hybrid and families hated it. Now there is more live teaching on home days which has improved parents sense of the program.
Interesting. I teach middle (8th) and my remote kids are begging for independent work instead. They hate being zoomed into classes. I wonder if part of it is because we are on a block (90 minutes) and that is a long ass time to be frustrated.
I am sure the long block is a factor and 6th and 8th might be so different that it is a consideration. But so far everyone I've spoke with says things are working more or less and kids feel pretty OK with things as long as they don't have accesses issues.
For DD, I think part of the secret sauce is that it’s a fairly short Zoom. Like 30-45 minutes. Then everyone is cut loose to work on the concept they just covered. The in person learners are doing activities or worksheets in class and the at home learners are doing the same thing. The Zoom kids can text or FaceTime a teacher or the aide who was hired to help the Zoom kids, just like the in person kids can raise their hand for help. So in a way, her grade was well positioned for this format. Plus, it’s a tech-heavy school. All kids are issued an iPad starting in 3rd grade. Their textbooks and assignments are mostly online. They do practice quizzes using Kahoot. It may partly also be the age group. I’m guessing in junior high, there are more lectures and less practice or activity time.
And k3am, microphones are a must. DS’s teacher didn’t have one and her Zoom times were worthless. We couldn’t hear anything. His teacher has a naturally very quiet, soothing voice, and it doesn’t carry at all.