Classroom Lessons via Zoom

[jjx111]

AIBU to expect the teachers at my daughter’s rs primary school to offer at least some lessons via Zoom? The feedback I have been given is that that they aren’t offering it due to a) safeguarding issues, and b) it would add to the teachers workload. Well, surely if we parents consent for our child to sign in for these lessons then no safeguarding issue. Plus, at present, we parents are doing at least 60% of the teachers work for them via homeschooling. (I appreciate that they are setting work for the children, but this is part of the planning they would do anyway).

@Babymamamama Agree! Massive difference in private vs state. This will mainly be down to resources for most though. My friend teaches in a private school and has been provided with equipment to carry out zoom lessons. Also, the kids are generally from wealthy backgrounds so have equipment to access the lessons.

Covid really does show the extreme poverty gap & it’s saddening to know that the disadvantaged are just becoming even more so the longer this goes on.

And given I (as a tax payer) pay the wages of state school teachers then yes I think I do have a right to know whether or not many of them are working hard.

Yes, I can confirm we are all working hard. HTH.

BTW, as a tax payer myself, technically I pay my own wages. Does this make me self-employed?

And given I (as a tax payer) pay the wages of state school teachers then yes I think I do have a right to know whether or not many of them are working hard.

Lenny1980 I honestly wonder why the fuck I bother teaching with attitudes like this. If you work in Tesco can I say I pay your wages because I buy groceries from there? Can I question your work ethic and whether you're stacking the shelves properly?

Do you know what I've been doing until midnight? Marking work, planning next weeks lessons and replying to emails. What have you been doing?

All the teacher bashing threads are really fucking me off. Pretty soon the teachers will get so fucked off with being treated like crap that we'll all go and work in Tescos ourselves. Then you can teach your own children.

And given I (as a tax payer) pay the wages of state school teacher

When someone states this I no longer engage. I can tell what type of person you are from this alone.

I reckon that homeschooling is at least 80 % of the work

As a teacher who is also homeschooling I can tell you categorically that it really really isn't! Unless you are a parent to 30 children, some with special needs or learning difficulties and several with significant behavioural issues and you have to plan all the content yourself and differentiate for each of those 30 and then mark it and then feedback and the report back to various people and raise concerns. Even then I would say thats nothing like 80%

Ours are not doing school Zoom (but are for private tuition). The schools are setting work daily which we upload, also the teachers phone regularly to check how it's all going. It seems to work OK.

@Hoppyhops Very true

Our school provision is skewed more towards supporting the less fortunate children. The children in school, obviously. But also the children with no internet - while it might just be a link to White Rose and a worksheet for those with no internet, we provide something more explanatory for those without internet, as well as more phone calls. We are also differentiating for some children more than usual, which parents of most children may not be aware of.

Another reason why I would be against zoom lessons for my Year 6s is that I have 6 who are doing significant babysitting for younger and/or disabled siblings while their parents WFH. Even if the lessons weren't compulsory, they would likely want to join, which would add to the parents workload.

This may not be generalisable to other schools, state or not. It's just my personal experience.

Ok. Thank you to those who have clarified about the safeguarding issues around Zoom, but surely there are other interactive ways of teaching? So far the only video clips my daughter’s (year 3) teachers have sent out is of them reading a story book. For F.S.! I’m quite capable of reading aloud to her myself. Teaching her about the use of equivalent fractions, or perhaps the correct use of grammar would be far more useful.
Also, I appreciate some children don’t have access to technology, but why limit all children just for the sake of a few.

For the person who asked where my approx. 60% came from - well, If your calculation of this is 27 hours a week, then we are doing far in excess of this. Inclusive of supervised breaks/lunch then it’s a full 35 hour week. We start lessons at 9, and finish around 4.

@qweryuiop I agree with you and it's a point that is being missed.

I have a good friend who is a teacher. Her management is telling her to prioritise driving around the local area delivering lunches to kids because they consider them to be vulnerable. She's in school on a rota supervising seriously vulnerable kids and engaging with social workers via video call.

That doesn't leave a great deal of time for online lessons.

I also agree that it must be very frustrating as a parent, however.

@jjx111
video clips

My reason for not trying to provide video clips is that I am not a YouTuber. I'm not arrogant enough to think that I can make a video clip to explain the use of the comma that is as good as the one provided by English with Holly. I don't have the setup that she has, and I don't have the video production skills. It also doesn't replicate the classroom very well (zoom does a much better job here, actually, as most of teaching is helping in the moment, not lecturing)

I would totally consider a video of reading a story or making a song and putting it om YouTube because it might be nice for the children to feel a connection with their teacher and connection is key to mental health (I'm aware some kids couldn't care less about connecting with their teacher!)

I actually find it quite interesting our different views on that. Honestly, if your kid's teacher cares enough to make a YouTube video of themselves reading a story, they might be up for the suggestion of a video lesson or a pre recorded clip. If you are able and think it would help your child, maybe suggest it? There may obviously be reasons why the teacher can't, and I've explained my own thinking above, but so long as you ask nicely, the worst they can do is say no

(although, just to flag again, the teacher may genuinely not have time or resources to do more. A lesson input video would be significantly more difficult and time consuming than a story reading video

Plus, at present, we parents are doing at least 60% of the teachers work for them via homeschooling

Ok..you tell me what you are doing for your children and let's see if it matches what teachers up and done the country are doing.

Teaching the actual lesson is one of the shortest parts of the process that goes into that lesson actually happening.

I think some posters on here think teacher unions are more powerful than they are.

What % of your job do you feel you can you do via one email per half term? Not the teachers' choice, it's the head's decision what happens.

But jjx some parents won't be capable of reading a story wood, for whatever reason.

And I don't like the 'well they're disadvantaged anyway so who cares if we widen the gap' argument.

I don't know why I'm bothering to engage really. Call it night feed boredom

@softjellycell that’s my exact point! If parents are not getting what teachers spend their time doing then help them understand! It’s called stakeholder management and like it or not, parents are key stakeholders.

I was genuinely trying to say that teachers have an opportunity to put people back in their box here.

Teachers are working remotely for the first time. Many people in other lines of work have been doing it for years, often having to work twice as hard to engage with people and demonstrate they can do the job just as well when not in the office. It’s particularly difficult when a high proportion of your time is perceived to be visible/face time if that makes sense? And I say perceived because of the perception that the majority of a teachers time is accounted for by being in front of the class, which I don’t think is the case.

@ilovesooty that goes to show what a good job they do of stirring things up through the media!

My dc are being remotely taught by zoom.

It is possible to find a workaround for the security issues for the most part.

But it isn't a panacea.
It is exhausting for dc and must be as bad for teachers.
I had to buy two new iPads and two desks and chairs so dc could work on screen all day.
Working on screen all day causes back and eye issues.
It isn't the same as a normal school day, this isn't me complaining I think our teachers are doing a fantastic job and have told the school this.
More to point out that zoom all day also has issues.
It is an international emergency and being understanding of this is important.

We teach through Zoom and have done so for weeks. Our kids have sessions for Maths and Language three times a week, MFL twice a week (we offer three languages and the kids do two), PE once a week, circle time once a week and additional individual support lessons scheduled based on need.
Tasks for everything else get uploaded to Seesaw. They get RE, Music, Art, Breaktime/Wellbeing as well as additional tasks for the Zoom subjects. I teach at a private school abroad, though.
It's a huge amount of work. I have to cover four year groups because I've got a mixed-age class and can't have them all in one Zoom meeting. I'm easily back to 60 hours per week and I'm actually only part time. I also have my own toddler at home and no access to nursery because teachers here aren't classed as key workers.
Printing out a few worksheets really isn't teaching. Our headteacher refuses to call it "home-schooling" because it really isn't. Our kids are doing distance learning at the moment. We are still teaching remotely.
Can't wait to get back into school next week...

@Abbccc

Actually, when you send your child to school the teachers are doing your job for you. Your child's education is your responsibility.

This is one of the most facile arguments I've ever heard. This is basically arguing we shouldn't have teachers - that it's unethical to teach because parents should educate their children and delegation of that authority is illegitimate.

I am a teacher (secondary, private) and I am doing all my lessons via Zoom.

Although slagging off teachers is wrong as most are working very hard and following all the guidelines of their management, I think slagging off management and an educational establishment which clearly has no idea how to prioritise is not wrong.

Zoom has its drawbacks but it works. The security has now been much enhanced. No technology is foolproof but nor, to be fair, is any classroom.

Teaching a full timetable over Zoom (or Teams) is not sensible for either teachers or students, but a reduced timetable is, to me, absolutely essential to meaningful learning taking place, especially when parents are not capable or too busy to be involved. It also means children continue to see their classmates (albeit virtually) in an educational setting.

But, I do make compromises. I do very little marking at all. I am aware that this varies by subject but prep and, especially marking. in my subject (a science) is the least good use of my time and, when I read about teachers in lockdown giving individual detailed feedback to 70+ kids, I despair! Research paper after research paper shows that marking has a negligible effect on pupil attainment, and yet it is still being prioritised over contact time. And I use good old text books a fair amount; they are well written and they work.

I see my value in my subject knowledge, pedagogy and communication of enthusiasm.

I am also concerned about the amount of teachers who favour censorship on here. We, as a profession, should be happy to be criticised and also capable of ignoring prats (I mean, we do it every day at school enough!). If someone wants to slag me off on MN, I ignore it or turn off the screen.

My dc are using Google Classroom & doing their full schedule of normal lessons (except PE) including form time interactively. All the work is assigned and submitted on the app. They can see their teacher & ask questions. It works pretty well - they are kept busy with their usual work during the day, which allows me to WFH.

I really can't see why more schools can't at least attempt to do this - even for just the core subjects. And I don't understand the outraged response when someone suggests it.

I would love interactive lessons for my DC. Who will pay for the internet to where I live to be upgraded? We only live a mile out of town.... (On an Army camp which is earmarked for closure). And another computer may come in handy.

And installing internet connections and computers to all those in their classes who have none.

The work we are getting from school isn't perfect. But when a school has a significant number of pupils unable to access basic online work, you have to make allowances.