Remote teaching and learning

[Shieldsman]

Last comment on this thread. I'm finding myself having a pop at people and it's not me. Apologies if I've offended anyone. I've had 2 days of this now and would much prefer to be teaching face to face. Although I enjoy online lessons too, I'd far rather be in school but unfortunately this is the way it has to be.

 

[ATS]

My 12 year old son didn't get finished his work until 7pm last night, it's now 4pm and he has just started his science work that says it will take him 90 minutes. It's absolutely ridiculous, he finishes school at 2.20pm. He's getting much more work than he would have to do if he was in school.

 

[Shieldsman]

It’s a disgrace the way teachers on the whole have worked very unprofessionally. Contingency planning is key - I work in a nuclear facility and I have plans made last March to cover all types of lockdowns that I have thought could be possible, including not being able to staff the facility at all. Teachers had 6 months off last year, so I’d question why these packs aren’t all fully completed and ready to pick off a shelf at a moments notice tbh. Monday’s announcement hardly came out of the blue, it’s been on the cards for months. Should have at least had a 2 week emergency WFH pack available in the case of needing to isolate

Definitely the last one. Some teachers had 14 weeks not in school. The whole time, every working day I worked be it online doing lessons or in school teaching vulnerable children and those of key workers. The first day teachers had 'off' was day 1 of the summer holidays.

 

[TravellingMackem]

Definitely the last one. Some teachers had 14 weeks not in school. The whole time, every working day I worked be it online doing lessons or in school teaching vulnerable children and those of key workers. The first day teachers had 'off' was day 1 of the summer holidays.

Some teachers did. Many did absolutely nothing

 

[TopCat]

Would you be happy for a teacher of any child of yours to be in loco parentis having not slept the night before? It isn't a job where you can 'pull an all nighter' and go to bed the next day. You're advocating people working 30+ hours looking after and teaching young kids. It's impossible.

There's a chap with a bit of common sense. Home schooling your own children whilst teaching the children of others is pretty difficult.

It's physically possible for a human being to go 1 night without sleep and still function. Being "loco parentis' is completely irrelevant and completely typical of the "poor me" attitude that exists within so many schools

 

[Keeping the Faith]

My son is in Yr 8 and his school are delivering live lessons via Teams. So much better than last time, which was horribly stressful.

 

[TravellingMackem]

My son is in Yr 8 and his school are delivering live lessons via Teams. So much better than last time, which was horribly stressful.

So it is possible to do. Funny that our school “doesn’t have the resource “

 

[TopCat]

It’s a disgrace the way teachers on the whole have worked very unprofessionally. Contingency planning is key - I work in a nuclear facility and I have plans made last March to cover all types of lockdowns that I have thought could be possible, including not being able to staff the facility at all. Teachers had 6 months off last year, so I’d question why these packs aren’t all fully completed and ready to pick off a shelf at a moments notice tbh. Monday’s announcement hardly came out of the blue, it’s been on the cards for months. Should have at least had a 2 week emergency WFH pack available in the case of needing to isolate

Agree. I've worked in a number of businesses where BCP/DR is an essential part of their core activity because they cannot afford to shut down. I'm not blaming individual teachers here as that should have been part of the Governments planning months and months ago. What bugs me is the "why should I?" attitude we seem to be getting from a lot of teachers and teaching unions

So it is possible to do. Funny that our school “doesn’t have the resource “

Surely it's a choice made by the Head/Governers? Neither of my kids' schools are doing Zoom/Live lessons but they are providing online support through chats/email etc where the pupils can contact them during the hour for each particular lesson for support and guidance. A universal approach would have been better of course, but it's needs must and as long as the kids get the bare minimum of education to keep them ticking over then so be it

 

[TravellingMackem]

Agree. I've worked in a number of businesses where BCP/DR is an essential part of their core activity because they cannot afford to shut down. I'm not blaming individual teachers here as that should have been part of the Governments planning months and months ago. What bugs me is the "why should I?" attitude we seem to be getting from a lot of teachers and teaching unions

You’d think they’re the only people asked to go to work at all tbh. Good job these teachers won’t be going to asda for food and infecting all of the checkout staff....

 

[TopCat]

You’d think they’re the only people asked to go to work at all tbh. Good job these teachers won’t be going to asda for food and infecting all of the checkout staff....

It's an odd culture. My wife is a now former teacher having taken a career break last year and about to start on a different track next week after 20 years in the classroom. Most of her friends are teachers, many of my friends are teachers as well as 3 or 4 family members who are qualified but not active teachers. I remember when Gove was Education Secretary - whilst I am no fan of that plum, every time he opened his mouth it sparked mass outrage on twitter and facebook with many teachers stating "how dare he tell me what to do, he's not qualified" etc

Few years ago, when I went self-employed one of my best mates asked what I'd be earning (she's a secondary school teacher on big money) and when she got her answer, the look of disgust on her face was a picture. She came back with "well, I might has well have not bothered going to University....." at which point I reminded her that I had indeed gone to Uni, plus I had added 3 or 4 professional qualifications to my CV, not to mention 20 years experience in the role, paying my dues, proving myself and building up a network that allowed me to then get paid good money as a consultant. She still wouldn't have it....

Another friend, last year made a comment about "Holidays" and I came back with the fact I don't get paid hols etc.....her counter argument was that Teachers don't get paid holidays either, they just get "39 weeks pay, averaged out over 52 weeks" and at that point I had to stop talking to her.

Teaching is a f***ing hard job - not just the pressure in the classroom, but the PPA, the marking, the red tape, the bullshit management that exists and the constant changes in benchmarking, reporting etc but it's also a f***ing well paid job. Go through threshold, get some management points, maybe a TLR or Ass/Dep Headship and you are earning a f***ing good wage. As I've always said - you want an easy life, work on the tills in Tesco (no disrespect intended). You want to earn good money? It comes with a load a shit and stress. Teaching is a job that people apply for and accept. It's not indentured servitude - no-one is forced to do it.

 

[Arfa Sleep]

Thats not true at all. Shop workers come in close contact with more than 30 people in a shift. School teachers have the option to wear PPE if they choose.

My daughters school already had my daughters class WFH from last Wednesday due to staffing issues (presumably due to covid), so they’ve had a whole week to sort this out. And I get 3 revision guides, 7 sheets printed from Twinkle.com and a sheet of spellings copied from a textbook. Sorry but would you say that is good enough on a weeks notice? And the pack wasn’t distributed until 2pm today, despite being home schooling since Monday...

Mate, shop workers won't come into close contact in a way teachers will and I doubt they'd come into close contact with anyone really. In a primary school setting you'll have kids who need physical attention and won't understand social distancing. I know for a fact that some teachers have been told they are not allowed to wear PPE.

 

[Sea to Shining Sea]

And? I'm talking about the overall attitude of the education industry towards toe trials that covid-19 has presented. From my experience, they have been the least flexible of all of them. Probably because Teachers refuse to believe anyone can tell them what to do.

the least flexible? The teaching profession has had to make more changes to its practices and processes than (probably) any other. To deliver any kind of curriculum working from home and at such short notice is very challenging. It’s not like doing work in an office and then taking the laptop and phone home. I know this because I’ve worked in both the private and public sector in roles where home working has been seamless.

For teachers in secondary, changes were made to examinations and grade awarding that led to significant adaptation at quick speed. The Secretary of State made a mess of it and effectively disregarded all the work the profession did to rigorously calculate grades.

Upon return to the workplace, practices changed beyond recognition. This has had an impact on the ability to effectively do the job in the classroom, manage behavioural issues and provide quality and meaningful feedback but new methods have been adopted in attempt to do all of this as best as possible.

When other professions were told to work at home because of the spread of covid, teachers remained in schools in environments that were impossible for social distancing and therefore risky in terms of contracting, spreading or, in some cases, suffer from covid. Teachers did this anyway.

All that teachers have really asked for is a safe working environment, resources for students to be able to learn at home and clarity and organisation from the Secretary of State. None have been provided. If that’s what you consider to be moaning on then so be it, but I’d say those fairly basic working demands are neither unreasonable or unfair. And to say the profession hasn’t adapted is just factually incorrect.

 

[TravellingMackem]

Mate, shop workers won't come into close contact in a way teachers will and I doubt they'd come into close contact with anyone really. In a primary school setting you'll have kids who need physical attention and won't understand social distancing. I know for a fact that some teachers have been told they are not allowed to wear PPE.

Shop workers handle hundreds of items immediately after they were handled by each customer, customer after customer for hours on end. Bit of hand sanitiser won’t make a lick of difference to that

 

[Sea to Shining Sea]

Shop workers handle hundreds of items immediately after they were handled by each customer, customer after customer for hours on end. Bit of hand sanitiser won’t make a lick of difference to that

I don’t think their jobs have been made safe enough either. And they’re not helped by people who refuse to wear masks or keep distance.

No-one should be in the business of picking off sections of society or professions and say they’re not pulling their weight. It’s divide and rule bullshit.

 

[AC Mack]

Exactly the response I expected. God forbid a non-Teacher expresses an opinion about teaching in any way, shape or form

There's a reason why experienced people are telling you you don't have a clue.

 

[TravellingMackem]

I don’t think their jobs have been made safe enough either. And they’re not helped by people who refuse to wear masks or keep distance.

No-one should be in the business of picking off sections of society or professions and say they’re not pulling their weight. It’s divide and rule bullshit.

The job the little ones teacher has gone is completely inadequate, and the head teacher will be told such tomorrow

 

[Mowgli]

Just seen kids with no laptops are now on the vulnerable list and can go to school.

Attendance will shoot up.

 

[AC Mack]

Absolutely mental. That's estimated to be more than 1 MILLION STUDENTS. It's going to get to a point at our place whereby we have 150+ kids in school. Williamson promised all kids that didn't have a laptop would get one last April. Why has this STILL not happened? If so many kids are in school, staff will need to be in school to teach them - the same staff who at the same time have to teach another 20-25 kids a lesson online and are supposed to be predominantly at home as there is a pandemic out of control. Obviously, this isn't an issue in the leafy environs of Surrey but it's going to be an issue up here.
It seems to be that a large proportion of the weight of the argument for several proponents of 'get schools open' is that they simply can't be arsed / have the ability to support their children at home. There's absolutely no consideration of the health of adults working in a school environments. 5 times this afternoon, Williamson has dodged the issue of teachers being pushed up the priority list for a vaccination.

Just speaking to my partner and we were talking about not being surprised if some schools end up with 30%+ kids in.

 

[Sea to Shining Sea]

The job the little ones teacher has gone is completely inadequate, and the head teacher will be told such tomorrow

If you’re not happy you’re more than entitled to ask questions.

 

[AC Mack]

I am extremely close to the education sector and I've seen a LOT of this at first hand. I can have an opinion on the public utterings of the various unions and representatives without having to be a teacher

So why not pull an all-nighter and get it done? I've done that countless times in countless roles in a variety of sectors. JFDI and Needs Must are not phrases that seem to exist in the psyche of a Teacher. This pandemic has us virtually on a war footing - everyone has to muck in and get things done

My word, you really don't understand the profession. Pull an all nighter!!

Amazing.

It’s a disgrace the way teachers on the whole have worked very unprofessionally. Contingency planning is key - I work in a nuclear facility and I have plans made last March to cover all types of lockdowns that I have thought could be possible, including not being able to staff the facility at all. Teachers had 6 months off last year, so I’d question why these packs aren’t all fully completed and ready to pick off a shelf at a moments notice tbh. Monday’s announcement hardly came out of the blue, it’s been on the cards for months. Should have at least had a 2 week emergency WFH pack available in the case of needing to isolate

Aye, and travelling mackem had 12 months off last year.