Shitty message from teacher on Google Classroom.

[Tibola]

Congratulating the 10 kids who completed the assignment and giving their names. And then in block caps:

FOR ALL THOSE WHO DID NOT COMPLETE THIS I WILL NOT BE GOING BACK OVER THIS IN CLASS 👍

Rude much?!! And no, their school isn’t open for key workers before anyone jumps on me and says how busy she must be

Tibola - what is the rest of the contact like with the school - especially pastoral care at the moment -given how difficult this whole situation is -particularly I think for teens.

My DD's school has been setting work and having Teams calls etc but every day their head of year (L6) sends them all a pastoral email checking in, giving them a positive quote or something. They're also really hot on checking that pupils check back in daily. If the pastoral side is good then I'd be inclined to write this message off as a 'bad day at the office' but if the pastoral side is lacking then it will feel harsher...

It’s becoming clear to me that some people have zero idea how some other people live.
This

That is very rude! DS school is over encouraging all parents to encourage their children but they are also recognising that it’s hard for some children. DS has autism and is struggling to adapt to it all. We haven’t got much done this week. We’ve been enjoying the sunshine doing activities in the garden but I’m sure the weather will change again soon and we’ll be doing lots of learning!

What is she supposed to do ? School is rumored to reopen in september. That means you must complete the assessment, you must send it you must understand the lesson. This is not just meanial part of the program, so the stress is on and the one wanting to flog it will "get it". She is not responsible for what will happen next year.

FWIW, I am trying to set work that can be done with access to a smart phone, pen and paper.

I know a few children I teach don't have access to a smart phone, but the vast majority do. Some have access to a computer or laptop, and that's even better.

But it is interesting that you get these threads, and then also the "why aren't you live teaching everything" threads. I think another poster said that whatever teachers do right now it will be simultaneously too much and not enough.

Seems fair. Why should some children work hard and complete the work and others just not bother?

I bet that the teacher DOES know the home circumstances and this message will only go to those pupils who are actually on Google Classrooms - not those that have been unable to logon. So everyone that got the message has already seen the work and logged in to the classroom.

I have set poetry annotation for my Year 10s. There is a video for them to watch and an example. It's a half hour job (they have other stuff to do too). I am annoyed that only 5/30 have done this. It means that schools can get on with exam prep as pupils already have the notes.

Of the 30 I know 2 pupils who have no wifi access and have sent paper copies. My school, my son's school and I imagine many others actually checked with kids ...

The teacher will be frustrated that pupils like the OP's daughter have to go through the work again.

How did the teacher know? From what I can see on DSs Google Classroom there's no way to show whether he's completed the assignments?

I have set poetry annotation for my Year 10s. There is a video for them to watch and an example. It's a half hour job (they have other stuff to do too). I am annoyed that only 5/30 have done this. It means that schools can get on with exam prep as pupils already have the notes

Can you understand why some pupils might not have done it?

@FrangipaniBlue

The teacher version is completely different to the student version of course.

Very rude. As a single parent who HAS to work that would add to my not insignificant stress.

@SoupDragon. If the children are expected to be mature, it helps if the adults around them could manage it. Don't you think?

Or is it just parents and children that are in the wrong here? (as ever on MN). We're all going through isolation. It's week one. Speak/write with civility to minors. They are children. If those in authority think this kind of message is appropriate it explains a lot of the behavioural issues within schools.

The NEU has published advice for members on students' home learning which every school should use. Teachers should not be teaching a full timetable, or routinely marking work. Students expected to respond to constant online notifications and expectations to upload completed work are becoming anxious and over-whelmed. Most families do not have sufficient screens for parents to work at home, and every child to be online all day during school work.

I know that in my DDS school last year quite a lot of children did their homework at schools as they didn't have computers at home or had no/poor network connection.Ours was soradic and DD downloaded her work onto a memory stick to put onto her school links at school after too many pieces only partially downloaded from home.
The teacher may be stressed but dealing with unusual circumstances should be within her remit as a trained professional.

In a real life face to face classroom with 30 year 10s who have been set an important assignment towards GCSE work but only 10 of the 30 completed the work - would it be acceptable for a teacher to say these words to the class?

And would it be acceptable for the teacher to express this in a frustrated tone of voice?

Personally I think yes and to both questions so I think the tone is acceptable.

It seems that some parents are getting an eye opener seeing the realities of their dcs' learning styles and are shocked by the fact that teachers might sometimes not be smiley and positive all day every day despite some dcs' behaviour.

I wonder how many of those same parents have never raised their own voice to their teenagers who haven't tidied their bedroom or whatever.

@Tibola College lecturer/Middle manager here. What are we busy with...

Teaching all our normal sessions online

Marking

Chasing up kids not engaging

Constantly updating employers on how we’re dealing with apprenticeships

Carrying out team meetings remotely

Having weekly 1-1s with my staff

Replying to emails and carrying out any actions they bring

Dealing with HR issues

Trying to calm both students and staff who now feel overwhelmed by the situation

Adapting all my lessons, resources and assessments so they work remotely

And that was just week 1...

Our school offered to loan equipment to people with no laptops at home.
Even if a family has one pc, it's unusual if time couldn't be split so that a y10 could have a couple of hours to study. Y10 are often night owls who would happily study late at night if parents were wfh during the day. Surely many wfh parents are using company devices?

Sounds like good advice from the NEU

In a real life face to face classroom with 30 year 10s who have been set an important assignment towards GCSE work but only 10 of the 30 completed the work - would it be acceptable for a teacher to say these words to the class

You have noticed we are in a global pandemic that is killing people on a daily basis?

@tibola. My school is closed. I AM working from home, teaching a full timetable by video link, correcting assignments, giving tests and marking. I am writing this while I have a tea break from marking. Just because the school is closed, it doesn't mean that learning stops. I - and other teachers - have had to become tech experts over the last fortnight. I have had students who work really well and students who haven't bothered their arses handing in assignments ( and they have free access to laptops). It is incredibly frustrating to mark a set of work from which there are scripts missing.

The majority of parents have been very understanding and we appreciate that it is tough for them too, trying to wfh and manage kids. We're all in this together, but there are too many goady posts here, full of resentment for teachers. We're damned if we set too much work, damned if we don't set any. I usually manage to ignore posts like this, preferring instead to look at the larger picture, but hey, it's Sunday and I'm bored!🤷‍♀️ Back to work for me!

Sounds fine for a year 10

Surely many wfh parents are using company devices

Again - someone else who has no idea about this.

Our team are using mainly PCs as we are cloud based.

Some have work laptops. Others are working through Sharepoint

It is rude! It isn't home education it is crisis education. The teacher should be thankful for any work the children do, any work done is a bonus and not a must.

Many children may not have a laptop at home. Electricity use may need to be kept at a minimum as little funds to pay for it. Especially if on meter. It's the first week, parents, children are all still getting into their own swing with everyone being at home, working from Home.
They may be looking after siblings, whilst parent work. The list is endless.

I think that is a pretty poor message from the teacher who is almost certainly very much underestimating the pressure a lot of families are under right now. The emotional, financial and health challenges a lot of families have right now is absolutely massive.

I'm doing what I can with my children. I spend 3 hours each morning with my 9 year old who is coping well and managing to do the school worl that is set. Her school is setting a manageable and achievable level of work.

I then spend 3 hours with my ADHD, ASD, SEN 11 year old with the aim of completing a reasonable proportion of the 5 hours of work, that is largely beyond her ability, that her school is setting. She can not work independently at all. I'm prioritising Maths, English and Science. French (which she can't do at all) and a worksheet for PE that would take an hour to complete have been deleted. We'll hopefully manage some geography and history at some point when we get into a bit more of a routine.

Yes it is a bloody disaster for my 11 year old's education. Shitty messages from a teacher won't do anything to help a rubbish situation.

Not everyone has time to upload all the homework after completion. Especially with crap internet connection. It already takes me time to open the files and print them, due to our shit internet. I’ve called out internet provider twice and still hasn’t changed. Anyway, I understand the teacher wants to make sure everyone is doing the work, but she could have worded her message better. Unless perhaps she is used to the kids parents not supporting the children at home? I admit, I’m pretty rubbish when it comes to returning reading books etc at home, but the teacher knows my kids do their homework, read etc...as a teacher can usually tell I assume from a students progress.

The other category is the lazy ones that don’t want to do any work and their parents blame teachers for their lazy spawn.

I have a lazy spawn but I don't blame the teachers for his lack of work or enthusiasm. This last week has been a bloody nightmare trying to get him to do the online work set. But he has done it and I will continue to kick him up the backside to do it. It doesn't help that he has dyslexia and so has to work much harder and gets very despondent. His friends, also yr 10, have said they aren't even bothering with the work and no they don't come from dysfunctional families, they just can't be bothered. So a message like that from the teacher may just make them sit up and listen.