To think we could just collate all the teacher/teaching related information here, and have done with it?

[SachaStark]

Just to save time, shall we just have a thread here, where our teaching colleagues can collate all the answers to the questions about teachers and schools, to save having to repeat the same stuff again and again?

1. Why aren’t the teachers working?

They are working.

1. What are the teachers doing all day?

A myriad of things. Including, but not limited to: gathering evidence to get qualification data for Year 11 and Year 13, planning lessons that can be taught remotely, creating resources, marking work, checking on vulnerable children, completing safeguarding referrals, writing school reports, in school minding key worker children, writing new schemes of work and policies for the COVID-19 world, delivering free school meals to students...

1. Why aren’t the teachers doing online video lessons?

Some are. Most (the correct decision, IMHO) are not doing this, following union guidance. This is due to unsafe platforms, such as Zoom, the inappropriateness of it for some ages/classes, and due to safeguarding reasons.

1. What safeguarding reasons could there possibly be for not doing online video lessons?

So, so many, sadly. Including, but not limited to: the vulnerability of teachers’ images or voices being used to create online memes (at best) or pornographic material (at worst) by downloading and manipulating the clips, protections of both staff and students who may be hiding from dangerous individuals known to them, the possibility that abuse may happen live online in front of other children, the possibility that some children may appear on camera either undressed or performing indecent acts...

1. Why aren’t the teachers in school actually teaching the key worker children?

We’ve been told not to teach key worker children in school, we are only child minders at present. This is due to the possibility of unfairness if we are teaching some children and not others, and also because it is impossible to plan for and execute when you are trying to maintain social distancing, and also have no idea what year groups you will have in each day.

1. What’s happening with the school curriculum?

It’s been suspended.

1. When are the schools going back?

Literally, NONE OF US KNOW. It doesn’t matter what your school has said or not said, or what your neighbour’s Aunt Gertrude has said. None of us know anything about when the schools are going back.

1. Why can’t they summer holidays be cancelled, and the kids go back to school then?

Because the teachers and students are technically working right now. The children will need their summer holidays, and the staff will need them, too.

1. But other industries have had their holidays cancelled, so why can’t teachers have theirs cancelled?

It’s more complicated than it is in other industries. Teachers aren’t paid for their holidays, and they also can’t take them as time off at a later date. The government would have to pay six weeks’ extra pay to all teachers, which I don’t reckon they’ve got the spare cash to do.

10. Why can’t teachers just work it unpaid?

Because we are not bloody saints, and we aren’t very well paid in the first place.

11. Why are the teachers still receiving a full salary?

Because they’re still working full-time, see above, points 1 and 2.

12. But why isn’t MY child’s teacher doing X, Y or Z?

We have absolutely no idea. Why don’t you contact the school in question? Maybe they are, and you haven’t seen it yet? Maybe they’re not, and they’ve actually absconded to Hawaii? Maybe they’re just drinking gin all day? Who can tell, I certainly can’t...

13. What are the daffodils on posts about teachers/teaching for?

It was decided in a thread on The Staffroom that it would be far more productive to give each other flowers on threads clearly guilty of teacher bashing, since many people’s mental health and well-being is at a real low at the moment, and many hard-working teachers are genuinely upset by these posts.

14. Is it really teacher bashing, though? I’m so bored of hearing this.

It is, because these threads generally rely on generalisations regarding an entire profession, and are simply an excuse to “have a go”, rather than doing the more productive thing and contacting their child’s school.

15. But don’t teachers think they have the hardest job in the world? They’re always moaning and being so defensive!

Literally none of us have ever said that we have the hardest job in the world. I don’t know who does. NHS staff at the moment, for sure. Other key workers still having to carry on in difficult conditions, absolutely. But we definitely are facing some very difficult tasks in our jobs right now, that we’ve had no time to prepare for, in an unprecedented situation. Exactly the same as most other lines of work are having to do. And we have to defend ourselves, because SOME posters on here do love a pile-on when it comes to teaching.

16. Would you like a glass of wine?

Fuck yes, most of the time, actually. Care to join me?

@Snuggles81

so you are happy to wait for a vaccine before we go back to school?

I have a very high risk child. I want him to go back with his peers and I want both of us to go back into an environment where risk is as low as it can be for him. I don’t want my child to get ill and die because we go back too soon or because the plans have not been properly considered. If it means a few difficult years then sobeit. We are all in this together, right? Or does that only apply to healthy people?

MissMarks

It isn’t YouTube though. It is zoom conferencing to a closed group. university’s have been doing video conferencing for years and don’t seem to have an issue.

Firstly as a lecturer in HE I know for a fact that you are speaking nonsense. I’ve done podcasts but that was my own personal choice and it’s not compulsory.

It’s way more tricky when you teach children using video, the potential for it to backfire is huge.

Fripp it was a choice I guess. If I had said no I would have either had to relocate or take redundancy..........

I am not disputing that my children are privileged and that there are significant educational inequality’s. I am saying that teachers saying they can’t use zoom for those that can access it is silly. And like I say- I know of schools with children from all backgrounds using it. As our social workers!!

I'm going to shout this, coz it keeps coming up: WE ARENT TEACHING VIA ZOOM, BECAUSE FEWER THAT 60% OF OUR PUPILS HAVE ACCESS TO THE FREAKING INTERNET AND NOT ALL KIDS CAN LOG ON AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE THEY ARE SHARING A LAPTOP. The work set has to be equitable.

The university I went to has been doing online lessons for years. As has the Open University. I am not saying it is compulsory- but I am saying it isn’t unusual and I would assume lecturers are equally at risk of having older teenagers superimposing their heads on to goodness knows what.

Safeguarding isn't silly. Personal privacy isn't silly. Unrealistic workloads aren't silly either.

I know of schools with children from all backgrounds using it.

What are they doing for the children who don't have access?

Actually this isn't the thread for this so I will desist.

Whatsername- my children aren’t having structured lessons as such. The teachers are facilitating it for the children’s emotional well being and to check that the children are ok and answer any questions they have. They have been playing games and telling each other what they have all been doing.It has been the highlight of my children’s week. I don’t see what the problem is.

Bowing out too.

Nobody important- teachers are phoning children. They are also doing some doorstep visits.

@Howaboutanewname I am sorry that your child is high risk and as said in my previous posts I have said it's about planning and making sure it is as safe as possible. So in your opinion are you saying that children should stay at home until they is vaccine? Because that is the only time it will be completely safe with no risk. The country are doing all they can to protect those who are high risk, my own mother is completely shielded living on her own so I completely understand the worry but there has to come a time that we begin to start a different normal and schools have to at some point begin to go back to school.
We are all in it together and all doing our bit to protect the high risk.

MissMarks do you supervise it?

My eldest has Zoom meetings although not with school.

We make sure she is supervised. And we are told she has to be in a family room during meeting.

I can't do that and work. So I am glad it's not a route that put school gas went down.

And I am sure quite a few kids won't have access to Internet.........I already know my daughter has mentioned some of her classmates don't have Internet access.

I don’t really need to supervise- there are two teachers on the call and the children seem to know how to behave. I am in the next room and leave them to it.

The problem is actually an issue - not all pupils can access the internet via zoom, so we can't discriminate. Our tutors are in daily contact with pupils via phonecalls, google classroom and email, depending on what works best for the kid. No zoom does not mean teachers arent doing their job.

But that doesn’t make sense- if they can access google class room and email they can access zoom.

I am not saying to say teachers have to use zoom- just that it isn’t fair to use safeguarding as a reason not to use it. If that was genuinely the case piles of schools wouldn’t be using it.

I do find the Zoom worship weird.

The safeguarding is a real concern.

But more to the point, I've been in shutdown for 2 months now. I've taught over Zoom extensively & I've stuck my nose into my dc's lessons.

It's just not an effective medium for whole class teaching & learning 🤷🏻‍♀️. It has a place in tiny

Accessing webpages isn't the same as accessing video calling.

Of course that's fairly obvious but this is about to become another one of those "my school uses Zoom so any school who isn't just be terrible, I can't see what the issue is with Zoom" arguments that comes up every 24-48 hours on here.

But that doesn’t make sense- if they can access google class room and email they can access zoom

The laptop in my classroom and the one DD has got at home are fine with google classroom and email but Zoom is so laggy, it’s unusable. It freezes loads whenever we try to use it-I expect they are just really old.

My dh is a University lecturer. He has been using Zoom for some seminars, but the powers-that-be, despite boasting of their commitment to continued provision for students, have told all staff that they are personally liable for any issues that arise.
Dh has continued regardless, but he says that it is extremely challenging and 20 people on is the absolute maximum limit (so hopeless for a class of 30). There have to be VERY strict "rules" for effective participation, which "sensible" uni students can manage (just) but your average class of children wouldn't. And that's before you get twats like that poster on the other thread's husband, who thinks it's hilarious to bomb their dd's classes and pull faces in the background and do bunny ears over her head and generally disrupt the lesson!
Oh, and my County has informed Head Teachers that Zoom may be used for staff meetings, but should NOT be used with students. A friend's dd's county allows it, but only with audio, not video.
But hey, let's criticise all teachers for being lazy bastards for not being au fait with modern technology though.

But that doesn’t make sense- if they can access google class room and email they can access zoom.

Not true where I am! GC can be easily read off a phone. Zoom needs an ongoing & reliable connection. For all participants.

Nope. If a family has one laptop and three kids, all three can not be taught different lessons by different teachers via zoom. They can, however, spend 30 minutes each on Googleclassroom accessing the tasks, making a note of them and then competing them on paper.