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?

[Kerzel]

I can only assume you wrote this post to try and piss people off.

[year5teacher]

That’s a great assumption based on what is going on in your own school.
I have 20 children in who I am teaching full time. I am also doing Zoom with my kids who are at home daily.
The only difference is 10 less books to mark per lesson. It is, by the way, absolutely shit. I also have some children from other classes in with me and they are quite challenging.

The way I feel about it is that it’s not different enough to have any kind of novelty about it to make it enjoyable, and it’s basically the same as always except not with my whole usual class who I love and miss a lot. It’s also much harder to plan because I have to plan for a lesson to be delivered at school and accessed at home - more materials to create etc.

Literally every school is different.

[noblegiraffe]

Well if anyone suggests that teachers want schools to stay closed because it’s a nice jolly for them, you can send them this thread and tell them to piss off.

[Landlockedinlockdown]

YABU
I’d give my left tit to be back in school right now. I’ve spent years developing fun activities to teach the syllabus, these interactive activities don’t translate to home learning.
I have spent all weekend for the last 2 weekends and most evenings after school preparing resources for live streaming; pre-recording, checking and uploading videos; converting physical resources to online ones. Live streaming is a ballache but we do it because the kids need to be able to interact and ask questions.
I’ve done it all day today, with 5 different classes and have the mother of all headaches. Oh and even after that, I get approx 40 messages informing me that they don’t get it/can’t find this/can’t follow the instruction to complete the green slides etc. Something that would be sorted in 5 seconds in class takes me to read the notification, log on, type an answer..... multiply that by the 40 I said and no, I am not having a lovely time sat on my arse in my front room with nothing to do.
Even if I was, I didn’t go into teaching to sit on my arse. The unions make it look like we don’t want to be in and have made us look appalling.
That said, we are doing a very difficult job under very difficult circumstances and with very little protection for our safety and we deserve that.

(Most) teachers are working very hard, with no support, no idea what’s happening next and often fighting to engage kids. And guess what, when we go back we’ll have to deal with a group who’ve not engaged, another group who misunderstood, another who didn’t retain and the 2 kids who did and got it all and are bored because they need to move on.

[slothpaw]

I am in school teaching full time AND recording videos and providing feedback to the children at home. It’s two jobs at once. Colleagues keep catching covid, every day different children are isolating with symptoms then you panic. It’s stressful.

[grafittiartist]

You know that "chat live" function offered when you try to contact a call centre? Well - I'm doing that with classes of 30 all asking questions at the same time. Nightmare. And not their fault, just the way it is.
No way to support pupils as you can't see what their doing.
All planning has to be precise before hand- no adapting to suit the way the lesson is going.
Can't wait for kids to be back.
Benefit-I now finish a coffee while it's hot!

[PerpetualStudent]

Oh OP, you are funny. My friend is a drama teacher. None of her students will turn their cameras on, half refuse to speak at all. (These are kids who are lively and engaged in school) She is having to teach her normal curriculum, on a full timetable. Want to swap jobs with her?

[Evvyjb]

This thread has made me feel particularly shit. The more i think about it the more upset i am. Thanks OP.

I'm sorry, but I would NEVER post "Is there a silver lining in GP surgeries and hospitals now that people aren't coming in except for covid??"

I spent an hour with a suicidal pupil before a 7 hour teaching day yesterday morning. I am so glad i could be there for them. Then I was told (as a head of department) that I needed to go and observe my staff and grade them.

This is shit.

[Poppingnostopping]

I am a uni lecturer and I don't like online teaching. It's boring speaking into the void to do video lectures, it's just not inspiring in the same way being in front of a class is inspiring, you just end up with a rather flat or rushed presentation. Similarly, Zoom takes a huge amount of energy but is not quite the same as face to face. I would prefer to be back on campus myself for teaching, with some online video usage to support that.

[coffeeforone]

I think all schools are different. DC is in reception and teacher is in school with TA too. They are also trying to stream 2 live sessions a day so the children at home can join. I admire their efforts but it doesn't work too well when they have half the class on there at same time as trying to engage with DC who are at home. DC is also set 5 tasks a day, which the teacher pre records each morning. If we do them and submit work then she comments that same say albeit sometimes very late into the evening.

I honestly think her workload has doubled as she has to do both in school and remote learning.

[roxyfoxy89]

We were given a choice of home learning or coming into school. Every single teacher (apart from one clinically vulnerable) said they want to come into school rather than do home learning. We now have to do it on a rota so there aren't too many of us in and so that it's fair - because none of us want to be at home!

[Rosebel]

Are teachers doing face to face classes and setting work online. My children are secondary and they all get the lessons online even if they are in school.
The only difference is a teacher or possibly TA is in the room.
It seems much fairer to do it that way and I would have thought in one way easier for the teachers. Can't imagine how they can teach in person and online.
Anyway there have been loads of posts about how hard it is. Not just setting the work but parents moaning there's too much or not enough or no resources.
At least the teachers don't have to deal with that in school (or to a lesser extent).

[Watchingbehindmyhands]

Why does it matter? If we all said yeah, it’s amazing, then what?

[Lifeisabeach09]

@Evvyjb

This thread has made me feel particularly shit. The more i think about it the more upset i am. Thanks OP.

I'm sorry, but I would NEVER post "Is there a silver lining in GP surgeries and hospitals now that people aren't coming in except for covid??"

I spent an hour with a suicidal pupil before a 7 hour teaching day yesterday morning. I am so glad i could be there for them. Then I was told (as a head of department) that I needed to go and observe my staff and grade them.

This is shit.

I'm so sorry, Evvyjb.
It really wasn't my intention to make anyone feel like shit.

[Poppingnostopping]

It also takes longer to prepare, add subtitles, you don't get any chances to just chat briefly with students, it's all very flat and tiring, for no improved learning outcomes. The one thing my students do like though is the opportunity to play back or slow down the video lectures, so that's a format worth sticking with.

[FloreanFortescue]

No, it's not lovelier.

It's a fucking nightmare that I can't wait to end. I'm so worried about the impact on the children's education. I'm worrying day and night about whether what I'm doing is good enough or if the parents think it's worth reporting to ofsted. All while trying to maintain an education for my children in class.

I could cry most days.

[DrMadelineMaxwell]

We are 50% of the time in with the kids, 50% of the time at home doing the distance learning provision and emailing etc. Not every school has only TAs front and centre with the kids. Ours also only complete what the children at home do too.

I'm going to answer ignoring any scope for teacher bashing in the question and choose to consider it an interesting question.

I do not miss wrangling with very tricky behaviours, as they can really get in the way of the learning of the majority of the class depending on the behaviours that any of the minority choose to engage in, but I do miss seeing my class and interacting with them.

The work can be found at leisure, as long as it's scheduled the next morning to be found by the classes - but it's taking about 4 times longer + to find work, set it in a way that can be opened and then troubleshoot any issues that still arise because pupils are opening it on different devices and there's always someone that seems to find it won't work no matter what else we do.

We don't set live lessons to allow for parent and child flexibility for when they can complete tasks - and then have parents demanding live lessons to occupy their child ignoring the fact that other parents would find it very difficult (just read mnet!) and that it would exclude several pupils from their learning if we did.

It's actually a lot quicker to prep something for a class, teach it and engage with the learning there and then and give feedback there and then than it is to do what we are doing now.

[year5teacher]

@Lifeisabeach09 no one is challenging you about your job being made better or not by lockdown. No one ever seems to care about people somehow maybe benefiting from it unless it’s teachers.

And I’m sorry, but you knew your thread had an edge to it, which is why you prefaced it by saying “this might be a teacher bashing thread”.

[squiglet111]

@Buddytheelf85

I am a teacher and have kept my kids home. Doesn't feel right sending them in when I'm at home. Most teacher friends are doing the same thing.

[Lifeisabeach09]

@PerpetualStudent

Oh OP, you are funny. My friend is a drama teacher. None of her students will turn their cameras on, half refuse to speak at all. (These are kids who are lively and engaged in school) She is having to teach her normal curriculum, on a full timetable. Want to swap jobs with her?

Usually, no. Recently, based on things going on where I work, maybe.

[farwin]

I burst into tears in front of my headteacher today, first time I've cried at work in over 20 years. I'm working harder than ever. Had to call 3 parents regarding different things. One parent moaned we weren't doing enough, another had a go that it was way too much - both children are the same ability with the same work ethic in school. Both parents are stressed, I get it I've got my own DCs who I'm completely failing at the moment. Thank god for the third parent who was lovely.
I'm sick of all the judgements about teachers workloads. With the exception of the first 2-3 weeks of lockdown in March (when no one knew what was going on and there was a feeling it might all go away soon) my colleagues and I have earned our money.
You don't see anyone bashing furloughed workers or self employed who took the grant, some of whom had very little loss of earnings, yet teachers are fair game.

[year5teacher]

And yeah, this has unreasonably made me feel shit too. Like, my class are going through it right now. Bereavement, mental health crises. And I have to somehow juggle taking crying children out of class multiple times a day whilst also teaching the rest and keeping families at home happy too.

It’s peanuts compared to what some people are going through right now at work and in their personal lives, before anyone comes and claims that I’m saying teachers have it harder than everyone else. We don’t, but it has gotten both harder and less enjoyable and it’s just a kick in the teeth to then hear “this might be teacher bashing but actually are you enjoying how much less demanding your job is???”

[Whatnext2018]

I’m a teacher but am was at home after having a baby, then the pandemic hit. I am so very relieved to not to be having to do zoom lessons etc. I have many teacher friends under so much pressure and really finding the current situation highly challenging.

[Lifeisabeach09]

@ilikebooksandplants

You’re right. I’m judging you if you think this is what we would all prefer. in fact I’m sure teachers arranged this pandemic for longer hols, coz that’s all we care about right?

Please re-read my OP. No preferences were mentioned. Even a person like me with a 'poor work ethic' and a 'badly behavioured child' recognises teachers do not get choices in whether to teach online or not.