To wonder why schools are saying they’re not allowed to do live lessons

[Plinkplonkplank]

Because they’ve just started doing them at my ds’s state secondary. We had to fill in an online permission form. So it is possible after all.

Delatron, can you please explain why June's approach is better than mine?

There is somewhere between live lessons and crappy worksheets with no answers. I can completely understand why you are unhappy with your provision and will not defend it. But why does the solution have to be live lessons.

@Delatron

God it’s all me, me me isn’t it? I do this, my way is better.

Then @June2008 comes in and wins the argument.

...with her free laptops and dongles.

And I agree with @Nonottha

Mistressiggi

Dunno if you work in a similar area to me, but even if my school could afford to give devices and dongles to half the kids I know exactly what would happen to them.

Whereas - I can hand deliver packs of work, have a chat with child/parent in the garden, check things are ok.

Yes free laptops in a deprived area. Good on them. We don’t know how. Maybe they did a fundraiser or something? But it’s a pro-active approach to the problem.

delatron you think that June’s approach is ‘clearly better’ with no evidence or expertise in the field. Shall I send you some of my lessons on evaluating the validity of conclusions? Or maybe you could only access it if it was a live lesson? Hard luck.

Black market in chrome books? Maybe I'd have a decent laptop then

I notice neither June (nor Delatron, but I've given up expecting that) have answered the questions put to them.
I've marking to do so I'll leave you to it.

@Beawillalwaysbetopdog

Your way sounds good and it sounds like you are working hard. Of course there is a middle ground.

Some schools are nowhere near this middle ground though.

Ha yes. My year 9s would give me a really good price.

We don't have enough laptops for the few children that are in school, let alone sending ones home for the ones that aren't. The much vaunted government provision hasn't turned up yet, parents are complaining that they can't stream live lessons, that they have several children all needing access at once, that they have to use data on their phones to download content as they don't have any other way. Live lessons would be a nightmare for them.

@flamingochill

Except that at our school keyworker kids are not allowed to do the home learning. Not enough devices and you can’t bring your own due to safeguarding

It’s better than being stuck in a tiny flat with Abusive parents but it’s not getting any education done. My daughter does have a really good knowledge of cbbc tho

My lessons are the same style as Bea's. Glad to know they're not crap.

@SmileEachDay the school asked parents to let them know if there were any problems accessing online lessons so they could be lent a device if necessary. Children who have been identified as vulnerable are able to come into school with the key-workers' children and do their online lessons there. My DC's school and its catchment are in an affluent area so I don't think many (if any) of the children wouldn't have internet access and a device at home to use - I appreciate that this must be very different for the schools that have many pupils living in deprived areas.

My DD's best friend attends a different local state school and they are also providing a full online timetable.

Your question was why are Live lessons better?

More engaging, more structure to the day. The child knows what they should be doing and when. A more capable person is teaching them. I know my child would get a lot more work done than he is at the moment. Many reasons. I’m allowed to have an opinion. It’s an opinion that’s clearly shared by many parents.

If live lessons were so bad then I doubt the private schools would be doing them...Parents wouldn’t be paying for something if it was less effective than worksheets/pre recorded lessons would they?

So the money argument you put forward works against you. People pay for something that they believe is helpful and good. If the private schools thought live lessons weren’t the way forward and the parents complained that they weren’t effective they would teach another way.

So every parent is an expert on pedagogy now?

If live lessons were so bad then I doubt the private schools would be doing them...Parents wouldn’t be paying for something if it was less effective than worksheets/pre recorded lessons would they?

Our private school has switched to full live lessons as some pupils weren't engaging with the prerecorded ones. So clearly they feel live lessons keep the pupils engaged more and are less skiveable!

Yes the accountability aspect can’t be overlooked @ITonyah

If children know they have a full timetable of lessons and they must be there, online, listening and working then ultimately far more work gets done. Children progress more.

Presumably, yes. But i think dds school is unusual is that the head is very tech savvy,.all pupils have modern laptops that were used in lessons anyway before this crisis so the change was much easier. Also I am paying a fortune for it!

Also I am paying a fortune for it!

When this is over, we could dismantle the two tier system and plough all that money in to the state sector. It would take a few years but it would definitely iron out some of the inequality.

The research - which is admittedly limited because pandemics which close schools nationally don't happen that often - suggests that the quality of the resource has more impact than the style of delivery.

** https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/best-evidence-on-supporting-students-to-learn-remotelyy**/*

I am delivering some live teaching but have my doubts about the difference it makes. The following does make a difference and does not require live teaching

1. Simple and clear instructions

2.scaffolding and modelling

1. Reducing cognitive load
2. Whole class feedback which informs future teaching
3. Ensuring technology is available. We have given out well over 100 laptops. We also have students who are not engaging working in school with staff support

When this is over, we could dismantle the two tier system and plough all that money in to the state sector. It would take a few years but it would definitely iron out some of the inequality

Yes I remember this discussion pre the GE. Part of the argument was that it would be beneficial to state education to have all these private school parents involved, who would demand improvements and raise standards.

This crisis has shown that argument up for the disingenuous rubbish that it was. Parents demanding better quality online provision are being stonewalled and ignored.

Not just stonewalled and ignored @ITonyah.... I have been called all kinds of offensive names by teachers on here for saying I wish my children were being educated

Look I'm not wanting to argue with anyone, I have no evidence that our way is better than any other way, there is no data at this point obviously. What I am saying is that it can be done if the will is there. I know most of the students prefer at least hearing their teachers and having some interaction. And I know this is the same for my own children. Student voice surveys say the same. Very rarely do I normally have a student thanking me for the lesson but this is a regular occurrence now!

I spend about the same time marking as I normally would, a click of a mouse is a whole lot quicker than getting out each individual book. The quizzes we do are automatically marked so no extra work there. And yes, we do at least fortnightly exam questions, sometimes weekly. Pupils email at any time and I will respond as soon as I can throughout the day.

The chromebooks, I think there were over 100 purchased, I'm not sure and I have no idea where the money came from but it did. They have initially gone out to Yr 10 because the expectation was there from parents after the government told all disadvantaged students they would get laptops but the allocations to schools have been woeful. We also have a hub in school if pupils need stationary, new exercise books, art supplies, all the things we would normally be giving them if we were in school.

Not every child has done every bit of work, some have done nothing as far as I know, but this is not through lack of opportunity. Pastoral teams are in regular contact with these families to see how we can encourage them to engage. Live lessons mean that I can ask individuals to respond at an appropriate level. I don't want to be in the position this time next year thinking there was anything else I could have done.

I've been teaching for over 20 yrs and have obviously known nothing like it but I think you can adapt if you want to. Don't get me wrong, it's been hard and I'm sure we have a long way to go but we are getting there. And if you ask me, we'll still be doing this in September.

To those teachers having a pop at me, if you think live lessons won't add anything crack on. Do what you feel is best for your students. I want to feel like I have done everything I possibly can and for me that is including live lessons.

Yep, being ignored would have been ok. I got told to fuck off