Teachers and the current status quo

[Lifeisabeach09]

Maybe a teacher bashing thread or not, I can't decide.

My experience of this current lockdown is that my DD's teachers are streaming live or pre-recorded sessions from their homes. Support staff and teacher rotation are dealing with the kids in school. Learning is the same-school or home, it's streaming on Ipads, so the children are being treated fairly.

Surely, not have to deal with 30 unruly kids, not having to discipline, and being able to pre-record lessons or even livestream from home has made life easier (lovelier??) for some teachers. Obviously, each school is different and teachers situations are different (own kids, etc).

Any teachers enjoying the new status quo or AIBU?

I'm secondary and whilst overall remote teaching is the devil's work and all my teacher friends can't wait for schools to reopen, there are some pros. No commuting, don't have to be in a cold classroom, can wee and have tea more often 🙌🏻

But mostly it's worse. Unfortunately just because we can't really ensure students are engaging and behaving at home, doesn't mean we aren't expected to or feeling like we should. At the end of the day of little Johnny joins my teams live lesson and tells me his mic and camera are broken and his internet connection is dodgy to get out of having to do anything, there sweet fuck all I can do about it but I feel like I should be doing something about it (and may well be held accountable for those kinds of things by SLT) and that is INCREDIBLY stressful which in turn is exhausting. Also, for teachers who have been teaching for a long time, they have a lot of resources that they know work well and so their planning year on year might be closer to tweaking and refining lessons rather than planning from scratch, but with remote teaching we are now having to plan everything anew and it's a real ball ache. On top of that, most decent teachers (and there are a lot of them I swear) actually care how their students do, and so knowing that remote teaching isn't as effective as face to face teaching is a bit soul destroying to be honest. I think in general, part of the appeal of teaching as a career is that you don't have to sit in front of a screen all day so for lots of us that has been a real struggle. That and sitting down while teaching- it just feels wrong 😂

People jump on what people say regardless of subject matter

No, like I said, I think had you just asked people generally what the perks of lockdown WFH are, the replies would have been very different and I doubt that you would have upset anyone.

Hey ho, though- bedtime now, I think.

Thanks to those who wrote about their experiences--this pros and the cons.

@Daphnise

I'm sure teachers will consider they are working hard- who doesn't.

But I don't think they are- not all of them.

And online teaching is a cop out for them.

That’s fighting talk! ‘A cop out’. As if. Twice the time spent planning for half the rewards (not even half really - if you factor in joy/having a laugh/developing and maintaining student relationships). In my 4 lessons of A Level Lit today my students have participated in the following: A Poll/a Kahoot/being separated in to smaller, breakout groups within the central Google Classroom where they discussed their ideas and then they all came back and annotated a different stanza of a complex metaphysical poem/write Two extended pieces of analysis which I monitored AS THEY WERE WRITING IT and they changed as I gave them feedback/a Jamboard and finally a task where they had to summarise their learning on a Padlet. And after all that they STILL don’t know how they will be assessed this summer and we’re all completely knackered even though we’ve made good progress. It takes twice the effort to teach online to achieve half the progress in class. Don’t anyone tell me what I am doing is a cop out.

I feel exhausted just reading that, fancies

My sister is a teacher and would much rather be in school. For one thing she actually likes children (hence becoming a teacher). For another, she feels she’s only doing part of her job because a lot of her role is social development and she can’t do that. She also finds the planning / technology a total pain, and finds it much harder to foresee how a lesson will land when she’s not there to supervise it directly.

Then there’s all the other stuff - the nativity, carol concert, summer show, school trips, etc. She likes that stuff and has really missed it this year.

Teachers become teachers, generally, because they like children and enjoy teaching them. It isn’t making them happy to be unable to do so.

I haven't read all of the replies, but I feel that people who think that conducting a zoom lesson is easier than in-class teaching are ignorant to what teaching actually is. Good and effective teaching, anyway.

Teaching is not lecturing.

During a lesson, teachers will be constantly assessing the progress and needs of all the children, tailoring input for those who are ready for more challenge, providing an alternative resource or differentiated support on the fly for anyone needing that, using questioning to have children assess their own work redirecting accordingly... it's such a dynamic dance that is far easier in a classroom when you are physically with the children.

Not to mention, so much of teaching (specifically in primary in which I have experience) is about the strong relationships and trust you have with your class. This style of teaching will never be better for children and it will never be better for their educators.

I can have an extra half hour in bed in the morning or time for an exercise class. That's quite good. And my teabags at home are nicer. But it's definitely boring and it really widens the gap between the bright ones or those with really engaged parents and the ones who struggle which is very frustrating. And although my teaching time is easier because we don't do live lessons, the prep takes longer. And then some kids don't even bother to watch the videos or read the feedback I've slaved over! Mind you I'm part time so that also makes life easier. My days off were much more peaceful when schools were open though

Funny question. NRFT.
Status quo is dreadful - a huge amount of effort going in to resources that (in most cases) don't lead to evidence of learning. Almost impossible to create lessons that are interesting/stimulating with the resources the the children have.
No time gained on commute - the replanning, safeguarding and providing IT support to families takes care of that.
Knowing that lots of my children really need paper packs prepared for them, and that would take the pressure off/ enable them to engage a bit more, but I'm not allowed to do that as all learning has to be online (according to my SLT - not sure if that's accurate interpretation of Gav's guidelines but it's the approach the LA is taking.).
No joy of interacting with children.
Knowing that every day that passes means that for those who can't manage the remote learning their behaviour will be even less manageable when we return than it was before. Knowing that there will be no resources to support them when we get there.
However I am under the same roof as my own children more than I was when I was at school. I've realised I quite like seeing my own kids. And that not having the stress of the long days in school means that I'm starting sleep through the night and those odd stomach cramps I'd had for months have gone.
So it's not happy days, but it has made me realise the toll that teaching is taking on me, my health and my family. I'll be handing in my notice next term.

I think the difficult thing about threads like this is that of course there are things about lockdown teaching that are easier than physical teaching - especially physical teaching during Covid. But, because teachers are so often accused of being lazy and doing nothing during the Pandemic, we not only hesitate to admit the things that are easier but tend to overexaggerate the things that are harder too - natural self defence.

Last term, the staff rooms weren't open so it was difficult to get a drink or access to the fridge. The children were in tight bubbles which needed the same staffing so it was difficult for many staff to get a break at all during the day as they were always 'on duty'. Some even found it hard to get away from the bubble for long enough to go to the loo. Some were teaching online and physically at the same time due to isolating groups. Some were frightened of getting ill.

So, compared to that, there are bound to be elements that are easier.
There are points in lessons when the children do a task on their own and you can turn your camera and mic off and send check facebook send work related emails. There are (in my school anyway) 10 minute 'eye breaks' between a lot of the lessons where you can get a drink and go to the loo. Time when we would have had break or lunch duties, clubs or rehearsals are now free. There are no evening duties at all. I have a jigsaw puzzle on the go in my classroom. On Wednesdays and Thursdays I have enough time to go for a run in the middle of the day.

None of that makes it a remotely bearable job. It's hard in different ways, it's boring and there's a constant feeling of letting children, parents and the school down by not being able to make it as good as physical learning.

I'm sure the same kinds of pros and cons lists could be made by most professions right now - we've all experienced huge changes to our working lives during the pandemic. But teachers seem to get an extra dose of bile about those changes. Which makes it hard to admit to the things that have been made easier.

I’m glad the decision was made to close schools to keep us safe but would much rather be in my classroom (secondary and 6th for English and Drama). I became a teacher partly because I’m a very social person and enjoy the company of young people and my colleagues.

The work itself is easier in some ways (as you say, less classroom management to do) but so much harder in others. Preparation, in particular is much more laborious. When I’m in the classroom I can write on the board and be very responsive to how the children are finding the work but at home I have to pre-empt everything beforehand and put it on a sodding PowerPoint which takes hours.

Teaching practical subjects such as Drama online is incredibly difficult. English also relies so much on discussion and children interacting with each other which many won’t/can’t do online.

This is all before you even consider those of us who have our own children at home too.

I love the fact that I can teach in my slippers, walk the dogs at lunchtime, pop a load of washing on at break etc but can’t wait to be physically in front of my classes again.

@mineofuselessinformation

Grow up. Seriously. You're not helping at all.

saraclara
??? Aren't the little flowers like giving little gestures of support? I thought the poster was trying to be nice?

OP, I think what happened here is that when you're under terrific stress, working harder than you ever have, and really struggling, it's a kick in the teeth to realise that anyone out^there might think it's easier than normal. That somehow it's a bit of a doddle.

Even one person being so oblivious feels really shocking somehow, which is why people have responded so badly (in addition to, as you've acknowledged, the poor wording of your OP).

Obviously there will be people who've not seen your later reponses who'll continue to rant as if you hadn't acknowledged your error. But that's MN.

@Daphnise. And online teaching is a cop out for them

Please do enlighten us as to how we can improve?

Would love you to explain to me, with referenced pedagogy, just how we can do it better!

YABU. I am expected to post online work for the children at home then teach a different class for a full day, then mark all the online stuff and plan for the next day (online and in school). So 3x the amount of work than usual with added risk to life.