Only 3 live lessons pw Y11

[Timtims]

Plus Y8 DC only had 2 this week (none at all March 20 - Dec 20).

So many friends who have DCs in other schools have almost a whole timetable of live lessons.

Seems so unequal and unfair. How is a child who has had about 20 live lessons since March 20, supposed to 'compete/compare' with a child who has 20 hours per week. At GCSE!!!

No joy with speaking to school about it. They just say they are doing their best.

AIBU to think my DCs are being massively disadvantaged and let down.

(apologies if this topic has already been discussed 1000 times).

I’m a secondary school teacher and we are teaching our full timetable using live lessons. One day last week we had to set work due to tech issues and literally the work rate of the students plummeted! Most of our students would simply not do the work otherwise. I feel for you OP. I would agree that it’s unfair. Yes it’s true that full live lessons is exhausting and relies on use of devices, but the alternative too often means that many students will switch off. They need the motivation to get out of bed and the routine of lessons.

I am 100% sure about what work my DCs are getting.

Despite working FT and needing to leave them to it a lot, I have access to both their remote learning systems on my phone and can see all work set, what they submit, and teacher feedback. I also get the live lesson timetable by email each week fwiw.

I don't think incompetence is an excuse noble. If the teacher is shit on line then they will be shit whatever happens and the fact that there lack of ability has not been identified or managed shows poor leadership of the school.

Nope, do you know how few qualified maths teachers there are? A critical shortage meaning that warm bodies in the classroom are the best that can sometimes be hired? So you could stamp your feet and demand live lessons and get worse quality teaching than you would have got from a high quality video, and have to log in at a certain time to access it.

It is not an excuse to trash the online access of other dc and other teachers

I’m not saying live lessons are worthless. It’s the people who insist that a full timetable of live lessons are the only acceptable outcome who are taking an extreme position.

@noblegiraffe

I don't think incompetence is an excuse noble. If the teacher is shit on line then they will be shit whatever happens and the fact that there lack of ability has not been identified or managed shows poor leadership of the school.

Nope, do you know how few qualified maths teachers there are? A critical shortage meaning that warm bodies in the classroom are the best that can sometimes be hired? So you could stamp your feet and demand live lessons and get worse quality teaching than you would have got from a high quality video, and have to log in at a certain time to access it.

It is not an excuse to trash the online access of other dc and other teachers

I’m not saying live lessons are worthless. It’s the people who insist that a full timetable of live lessons are the only acceptable outcome who are taking an extreme position.

So because there is a shortage of maths teachers people should put up with substandard teaching? And those teachers shouldn’t have to do their full job because of this?

So because there is a shortage of maths teachers people should put up with substandard teaching?

No. The argument has been made that live lessons are the gold standard. The evidence is that the quality of teaching is more important than the method of delivery.

So a live lesson from a brilliant teacher who is well trained in delivering live lessons and all the students can attend without a hitch is what people are supposing when they’re arguing live lessons are the best.

But actually a recorded lesson by great teacher that can be watched at a student’s convenience is better than a lesson that can only be attended by a handful of pupils, delivered by someone who isn’t very good at it.

Some people it would seem would prefer the second option simply because it’s live.

By second option I mean the poor live lesson attended by a minority of pupils.

Timtims
In which case I definitely stand by my advice on complaining. Focus on their remote learning policy, see if it is being followed and then direct your complaint down the line that provision is poor. Don't make it about live lessons or how unfair it is that some students have 5 live lessons a day.

noblegiraffe is correct in what they are saying about live lessons.
Where there are reasonable concerns about provision then they should be raised and the vast majority of teachers would support that.
Where it's a case of complaining because someone wants live lessons or they are annoyed that the teacher has linked to a perfectly good resource on YouTube or Oak Academy then they need to get a grip in my opinion.

Unfortunately there are people who are so obsessed with live lessons that they would rather have a poor quality live lesson for an hour than an hour's learning via recorded content by the teacher or recorded content from appropriate sources.

Just to reiterate, my DCs have virtually NO prerecorded lessons either. I could probably count on one hand the number they have had, excluding the live lessons which are occasionally recorded.

@LolaSmiles

I've found the absolute opposite. I don't think there's any point a teacher recording a video lesson then they may as well use oak academy. The point of a live lesson is that it's interactive. There can be discussion between students, students can ask the teacher questions when they're stuck. The children I've been tutoring often have missed out entire topics because they watched the prerecorded video, didn't understand it, couldn't answer the questions and that was that. They sometimes could send an email and get one back a day or two later which just raised further questions and it isn't resolved by the time to move on.

I can usually clear things up live with them in 10 minutes. Works great for both my DC too. Teacher explains, kids ask questions if they're unsure. Then they're off screens doing the work. Teacher remains live so if they have questions they ask. Work gets marked to ensure they've really grasped it, if not they go over it again. Pretty much as it would happen in a class room.

Obviously for PE a live lesson is pointless and kids are better going for a bike ride when someone's free to take them.

Of course kids need some live lessons because it's interactive, that's the whole point of teachers.

The point of a live lesson is that it's interactive. There can be discussion between students, students can ask the teacher questions when they're stuck

You know that kids are very bad at this in live lessons, right?

Also a lot of real lack of logic going on here. Doing a live lesson doesn't stop children passively watching a video on oak academy afterwards. I tutor maths as part of the national catch up scheme and the students who haven't had any interaction with teachers are massively massively behind. If they don't understand after watching the video once, they won't again. Even worse quite often they think they've understood but don't know why they can't answer the questions.

Doing a live lesson doesn’t stop a kid passively doing a live lesson either.

My older students year 11 and above have told me they prefer videos. We check in live every day at the start of the lesson. I direct them to the videos (made by our department) and answer any questions they may have. If it’s a double period, I arrange a time for us to check back in half way through. I do one to ones to answer questions or small group calls. It’s hard work. A 10 minute video can take about an hour minutes by the time I’ve thought about it, scripted it, recorded it, edited, uploaded it and embedded it into their instructions for the day.

I thought GCSE’s were cancelled again this year?

I'm the few live lessons I've done the kids don't talk. They just listen to my explanation and get on with some work, as far as I can tell. They will vote on multiple choice questions, or sometimes type an answer into chat if I specifically ask them to, but nobody is prepared to actually unmute and talk to me, or God forbid, ask a question!!! They all arrive with cameras off, microphones muted, and stay that way. I would have no way of knowing if they've understood on a live lesson, until they send me some work at the end. Just like when I send them a video lesson.

I do think the connection of seeing your teacher and hearing/seeing your classmates helps. Makes them feel less alone. I also encourage my pupils to work together over Teams if they can (and if they want to).

That's rubbish OP. I'd complain. It shouldn't be a race to the bottom. The live lessons don't work as well with big classes but the teacher could split the class and still teach live every other day lesson. Our kids are FAR more engaged with live lessons

Live lessons really aren't all they're cracked up to be on mumsnet.

This is how they go:

Teacher spends five minutes taking the register.
Teacher: Rhona? Are you here? Good morning Natash--- Ah, perhaps Natasha has computer problems. We'll see if she comes back.
Gary, Alex stop filling up the chat with emojis please. That will be a warning. Ah, Natasha's back with us. Rhona, please mute your mic. Click on the microphone symbol, Rhona.

Finally teaching starts, and then it's 'class what is x, if 5x=... don't enter the answer into the chat yet'.

Someone gets a warning for repeatedly putting the answer in the chat too early.

Harry: Miss, Miss, I don't have a chat bar. How do I get my chat bar up?

Natasha loses connection and doesn't reappear for five minutes. Teacher has to recap for Natasha. Natasha is anxious to catch up and puts her answer into the chat bar too early. Natasha gets a warning. Thomas gets a warning for filling the chat with emojis. (Thomas said he did it by accident.)

...ok type your answer into chat and press enter now.

I said now.

Ok, well done the three of you that have given an answer. Are the rest of you still with us and don't understand or have you just given up?

Ok, now you're all copying the smartest kid's answer into chat. Right, I'll take that, well done everyone.

Miss, what's my log-in?

When I look at the attendance register for my lessons, there's always a significant number bouncing in and out of the meeting. Technical difficulties?

Pothole, seeing as I am sat right next to my ds I can definitely confirm that this is.not how they all go.

@noblegiraffe

The point of a live lesson is that it's interactive. There can be discussion between students, students can ask the teacher questions when they're stuck

You know that kids are very bad at this in live lessons, right?

No I don't. I give live lessons. My kids go to live lessons. All have been absolutely great and very productive but thanks for the patronising attitide.

The teachers know the students, they know who will speak up and who won't. They know who they need to check in with specifically. You know just like in class.

@Timtims

It's not that I'm cross with the school or the teachers.

I just think it's so unfair. Damaging for my DCs life chances

Mm

The idea that kids sit still in class and don't mess around with their friends or shout out answers at the wrong time is fairly laughable.