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Original poster

Primary work in Microsoft teams

29 replies

bingandflop · 01/01/2021 17:22

Hi all

We are in a covid hotspot and my children are meant to do remote learning on teams. The teachers have set worksheets to fill in but they are in PDF so cant be edited. Does anyone know how this works? Or do children have to open a new document and just type their answers out?

I'm totally baffled by this!

If anyone has any advice that would be great

OP posts:
OytheBumbler · 01/01/2021 17:28

Can you open the pdf in word and then edit it? That's what I have to do with mine. DD's teachers insist on doing lovely worksheets with lines and tick boxes that have to be deleted and re-added in word.

ChloeR81 · 01/01/2021 17:32

Are they meant to be printed off and completed by hand? If PDF that would be my thought

Original poster
bingandflop · 01/01/2021 17:34

Thanks for your reply. Blimey what a nightmare - I've got a 4 month old baby and this homeschooling is going to be absolutely horrendous without having to re edit in word ☹ I would rather just print it off in a way but then we cant submit it 😫

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Original poster
bingandflop · 01/01/2021 17:35

@ChloeR81 maybe so, I'm not entirely sure

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 01/01/2021 17:36

Print it off, complete it, take a photo of it and send that back.

HelloDulling · 01/01/2021 17:38

Print off, take a photo on your phone, email it back.

Pamperedpet · 01/01/2021 17:39

@HelloDulling

Print off, take a photo on your phone, email it back.
Yes, do this.

Or open pdf in word but the first way is easier

SuperbGorgonzola · 01/01/2021 17:57

Have you asked the teacher what they want you to do with the PDFs? I'm a teacher and I wouldn't presume that my students have a home printer; I don't either!

They might just be happy with answers on paper and photographed depending on the work set.

JustCallMeGriffin · 01/01/2021 17:58

Honestly. Complain to the school. They need to set work in accessible formats.

Not many have the ability to print at home, and those that do wouldn't be happy with printing over 100 pages a week (what my eldest's secondary school expected in first lockdown!)

Additionally not many have the technical know how to get around the challenge of PDF work files.

If using Teams then the whole Microaoft Office suite is available to students. They should be using Word/Excel/PowerPoint as appropriate.

My youngest's school uses google classroom so all work is set via Docs etc.

This isn't a teacher bash, but unless the school acknowledge that PDFs make distance learning much more difficult then more pupils will be left behind because their parents don't have the resources to make their school work available to them.

Honestly surprised that schools are still setting work in PDF format. Both of ours stopped after parent complaints.

anascrecca · 01/01/2021 18:00

Screen shot, edit the photo with pen tool and email back ?

SuperbGorgonzola · 01/01/2021 18:02

Agree with @JustCallMeGriffin . Google Classroom is absolutely fantastic for teaching, and I set all my work on there even for classroom teaching. It's great.

ikswobel · 01/01/2021 18:03

Why have they put it in a pdf format... you could get the teams app on a phone or tablet, then screenshot and annotate with the answers. Then ask them to set up class assignments properly in teams!

Perfect28 · 01/01/2021 18:05

You can download a pdf editor

DoubleHelix79 · 01/01/2021 18:06

Search for 'PDF to word'. There are a number if free online conversion sites out there, most of them work OK. I wouldn't use them with anything confidential but for homework it will be fine. For next time I'd ask the teacher to use a more easily editable format though.

Original poster
bingandflop · 01/01/2021 18:07

Thanks all, I have emailed the school to ask how to the kids should complete the work so will hopefully hear back. It's such a headache!

OP posts:
Wishihadanalgorithm · 01/01/2021 18:08

Print off, let the child do the work and then scan the work into your phone (on apple there is a scanner under notes) or download cam scan a free scanner.

Scans are better than photos as they can be enlarged easily without blurring.

SetPhasersTaeMalkie · 01/01/2021 18:09

Do the worksheets have to be filled in, or can the answers be written in a notebook?
Then that could be photographed and shared.

Longdistance · 01/01/2021 18:09

If in PDF format, print off take a picture of the completed work and attach. Possibly contact the school and ask if it’s meant to be in PDF format.
My dds school add lots in Word format, so it’s editable. You can save and then just hand it in once done.

modgepodge · 01/01/2021 18:19

I gave instructions on how to compete worksheets last time. Unfortunately some of the best quality ones are pdfs so it’s hard to get round. I suggested either printing, handwriting answers and photographing, or typing/writing answers on a notepad and submitting. Some who had iPads would screenshot then markup and submit that. I didn’t mind what they did as long as they did the work.

ChristmasinJune · 01/01/2021 18:21

Honestly. Complain to the school. They need to set work in accessible formats.

Why rush straight to a complaint though??
Your child's teacher is trying to do a job they haven't been trained for, you are under pressure with a tiny baby. Talk to the teacher and come up with a workable solution between you. Hopefully the teacher will be happy to clarify or change things that don't work well.

Hoping41 · 01/01/2021 18:34

Please don't complain to the school. The teacher will know it is not ideal but it is the format the best worksheets come in. I am a teacher and I had to (and will again next week) set pdf sheets even though I knew it made life harder. For what it's worth, I accepted the work back in any way:

  1. Print it, complete it, photograph it, upload photo (seems a lot of work to me)
  2. Complete the answers on a piece of paper/ in jotter then photograph it and upload it
  3. Complete the answers on a word document and upload the doc onto teams
  4. Complete the worksheet as any above and don't send it back to the teacher, instead just 'hand in' the work with a comment saying how you completed it. We were not expected to mark all work all the time so this was acceptable for some work.

However, total game changer which I will be telling all parents about this time round is a website called ilovepdf I'd recommend using the pdf to powerpoint option. You can then complete the worksheet, resave it as a pdf and upload it on teams.

Again, please don't complain. We know home learning is far from ideal. We are doing our best.
Good luck. Any more questions, please just ask 🙂

tinierclanger · 01/01/2021 18:38

You should raise it with the school as they need to get a better protocol in place.

"Teachers are doing their best" is not really the issue here. There should be a clear centralised plan in place in the school about how to make work available and accessible, and while it was ok for things to be cobbled together back in March, schools should have come up with strategies by now.

SuperbGorgonzola · 01/01/2021 19:46

I agree that parents should raise it actually. Maybe not complain as such, but query.

I have set things electronic things before and not realised that there has been a technical issue with it until students have tried to access it and I would always appreciate it being mentioned rather than not completed, or being deemed ignorant/incompetent.

If teachers are using PDFs then how hard is it to include in the instructions "please hand write the answers in full sentences and upload a photograph of your work?" for instance?

ikswobel · 01/01/2021 19:56

I would always try to set tasks that can be done without worksheets- especially for primary. Draw, write, make something, learn something and write or prepare a talk. There are also loads of ways to engage chilldren though apps like Flipgrid and thinglink. Online teaching and learning is a very different skill set from class teaching and hopefully the school is providing some kind of training and support for staff.

Flamingolingo · 01/01/2021 20:10

If you’re going for the print/complete/photo option then download Microsoft Lens, it’s fantastic for turning photos of documents into pdf and would work well for submission.