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?

@Letseatgrandma

This thread highlights that most teachers are having a really shit time but a very small few see some positives (lack of commute, being able to go to the toilet), which is what I was getting at really.

What exactly was it that you were getting at really? That not commuting to work is nice?

Why just teachers though-can you explain? Why not just start a general thread about whether people are having a lovelier time working from home?

About any positives, I suppose. Re-reading my OP, I can see how it annoyed folks. I worded it badly.

Why teachers? Schoolwork and interactions with teachers have been the focal point of my child's life recently.

[quote Buddytheelf85]@superram - aren’t teachers entitled to school places for their children even if they’re WFH (as critical workers)?[/quote]
Not always. Not if there are too many other parents claiming places.

@year5teacher

Yes, you definitely started this thread purely to find out whether teachers enjoy being able to go for a wee in their own houses.

No, I wanted to know if there were any positives. It was PP who said going for a wee was an upside.

My NQT year teacher got a lovely sign for our classrom saying something like "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember,
involve me and I learn." She ripped it off the wall in frustration after a parent shouted at her for not being animated enough on the third hour of "teaching" she had to provide to Reception children. The actual teaching in a reception class lasts about 1-2 hours max so she is pulling her hair out to come up with 3 per day. How the heck is she supposed to involve 4 year olds in that government mandated nonsense?

I'm a ex teacher and was asked to sit on on a couple of live lessons for safeguarding purposes at the last minute when there was nobody else well enough. The poor teacher's workload has increased immensely. In primary all the children had their screens on and needed the same level of attention as they do in class, which is a lot. Parents were often way too involved, sometimes doing the work for their kids or, in one instance, turning on the mic to criticise the lesson content in front of the whole class. It was awful.

I expect the teacher is still working, planning and preparing differentiated resources for the children whose ability range stretches from reception level to Y6, and who all have to be taught to the same objective whether at home or in school.

The badly behaved kids are still badly behaved. One child was jumping up and down on the sofa sticking his fingers up to the camera! She had to remove him (remotely) from the meeting and teach him with his mum present and a member of SLT in her lunch break.

Oh and, no, you can't just pop off to the toilet. You can't turn off your screen. You can't go anywhere. In class, if desperate, you may be lucky enough to find someone to cover you. With back to back live lessons, you need a bucket under the table.

If the best thing about my job at the moment is that I'm not desperate for a wee, and that when I go, there's loo roll, then we really are scraping the barrel.
I miss the kids. Even the "lively" ones. I am at my very best with my mixed ability year 11 who I've made believe that they can do it. But three have vanished. They don't turn up online and there is nothing I can do.
Soft bog roll be damned, that's shit.

@Lizdeflores

Have you sat in one of the online lesson? I think teachers are doing an amazing job . They spend a lot of the lesson telling kids to make sure their on mute (so that 30 kids aren't chatting at the same time), then if they ask a child a question they have to wait for them to unmute themselves. Then there's powerpoints that half the class can see and half the class can't. Then work will be set that some children/parents will find others won't so it has to be explained 3/4 more times. The workload and the stress must of doubled over night

I never said they were not. Far from it. And I've observed the streamed lessons many times.

Thanks for another post designed at teacher bashing , this is why I rarely come on MN anymore. Genuinely feel anxiety reading another of these. Maybe your impressions aren't worth sharing publicly. Befriending a teacher or two in real life and listening to them instead of more of this might be more productive. We are doing our best. Seems not good enough for some...

I am not teaching via zoom but doing recorded lessons and teaching in school. I have about 9 in my class now.

Honestly, I hate it. I've lost so much sleep worrying about the kids in my class who are stuck at home and who are really vulnerable. Can't wait to have them back in. Have had a cry about it this eve tbh!

Apologies, only read the first couple of pages.

Mate, why do you keep going on about how it must be better “because we don’t have to get 30 kids to be quiet”?

No. Absolutely no. The kids are the very best part of the job. Why would NOT being with them make my day any “lovelier”?

I miss them so much. I fucking hate talking into a black hole void of a screen every day. It’s exhausting. I went into teaching because I love working with teenagers. Take them out of the equation, and it’s all a bit rubbish.

Thing is, I actually quite like teaching. That's why I do it. My school's policy is quite balanced, so workload is slightly lower now than it was last term. But the impact on learning is hugely lower.

We do live lessons, recorded lessons, online tasks, offline tasks. But apart from a handful of motivated kids, most children aren't getting out of it what they might jn the classroom. So I feel like I'm failing. Normally, if kids are struggling I know what to do to help them. But I can't help when the issue is that their baby sister is crying and they can't hear me, or their Internet is cutting out, or that they just haven't bothered to turn up to the lesson.

My normal job is hard, but with it.
My current job is hard, but worth it. But not as worth it.

Upsides - I'm not a morning person and no longer have to get up at the crack of dawn. Can eat when I want. Can actually go for a walk at lunch. Flexible working hours. Low risk of covid or other bugs.

Downsides - no idea if I'm doing a good job, demoralising chasing kids who aren't doing any work, fewer heartwarming moments, too much screen time, kids not learning as much, don't see many colleagues at all.

Mostly similar to other people wfh to be honest.

@alwaystea

Thanks for another post designed at teacher bashing , this is why I rarely come on MN anymore. Genuinely feel anxiety reading another of these. Maybe your impressions aren't worth sharing publicly. Befriending a teacher or two in real life and listening to them instead of more of this might be more productive. We are doing our best. Seems not good enough for some...

I have a right to post and give my opinion. Which wasn't slamming teachers, btw. I raise my hand up--I was totally unreasonable. With the caveat, teachers are having different experiences. Some have said the positives but most have stated, in so many words, that things are shit.

@SachaStark

Apologies, only read the first couple of pages.

Mate, why do you keep going on about how it must be better “because we don’t have to get 30 kids to be quiet”?

No. Absolutely no. The kids are the very best part of the job. Why would NOT being with them make my day any “lovelier”?

I miss them so much. I fucking hate talking into a black hole void of a screen every day. It’s exhausting. I went into teaching because I love working with teenagers. Take them out of the equation, and it’s all a bit rubbish.

I was under the mistaken impression that a classroom of 30 noisy kids would drive a teacher batty. I was clearly wrong.

I'm sorry you miss them and hope you see them soon when things are safe.

The planning is a KILLER but my god, that mute button is amazing. Not just on mic - on chat. Occasionally I mute them all for a couple of mins while I’m speaking/ giving instructions. How I will miss that button in real life

@Confrontayshunme

My NQT year teacher got a lovely sign for our classrom saying something like "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn." She ripped it off the wall in frustration after a parent shouted at her for not being animated enough on the third hour of "teaching" she had to provide to Reception children. The actual teaching in a reception class lasts about 1-2 hours max so she is pulling her hair out to come up with 3 per day. How the heck is she supposed to involve 4 year olds in that government mandated nonsense?

Jeeeze. Poor girl. Fancy having to deal with that in her NQT year. How DARE that parent do that?

This is what I mean about the extra stress of parents watching.

I'd think it was pretty obvious that its shit.

Ive not had one day working from home. I have children physically in the room everyday, as well as the majority online. I have managed to get home to sit through the cpd each week though. I also managed to get home to do parents evening.

Ooooooo I have a positive!!!! Instead of being sat in the school hall until 8pm waiting for parents, who often decide not to bother coming to see me despite making an appointment, so I have to wait until the very end just in case they turn up, we now use an online system. If they don't show up to the appointment time, as many don’t, that’s the time gone. So whatever should have been my last appointment is now the end of the working evening for me.

@likeafishneedsabike

The planning is a KILLER but my god, that mute button is amazing. Not just on mic - on chat. Occasionally I mute them all for a couple of mins while I’m speaking/ giving instructions. How I will miss that button in real life

Hah! Another positive!

163 posts in you say you were unreasonable?
I hope you feel good about yourself - and that you might think before posting a thread like this in the future.
The first? Definitely.
The second? Not so much.

I'd love a remote control for my DD.

@mineofuselessinformation

163 posts in you say you were unreasonable? I hope you feel good about yourself - and that you might think before posting a thread like this in the future. The first? Definitely. The second? Not so much.

If a kid in your class is remorseful when they've done something they regret, do you respond like that? You're giving teachers a bad name here.

It’s shit and it is making me want to leave the profession. I left another career to become a teacher after hearing them described once as “weavers of magic”. It’s pretty hard to weave magic in the SEN class where I teach currently when our small non verbal, limited mobility bubble is not permitted to leave the classroom, mix with any other children in the school or undertake almost all of the therapies or joyous experiences that enrich the lives of these young people. And I get why we are doing it, but they don’t and are often somewhat scared and confused. An enjoyable experience or ‘silver lining’ is not how I’d describe it..

I'd love one for you.

I gave up teaching before Covid was a thing but even I can imagine it's much harder because any decent teacher cares about his / her class. If I was a teacher now I'd be constantly stressed and worried about the children.

@mineofuselessinformation

163 posts in you say you were unreasonable? I hope you feel good about yourself - and that you might think before posting a thread like this in the future. The first? Definitely. The second? Not so much.

Actually, I agreed I was unreasonable much earlier so you clearly haven't read all the thread. As for posting, that's not for you to police. Some people were offended, sure, some were not.