Teachers, would you work?

[Liveandletlive3]

Just read an article which was stating that schools may run half days over the summer holidays due to missing so much from school closures.
Teachers, would you back this if you had the option to opt in or out to work over the summer holidays?

Why can’t Remmy just remember the answers from all the other threads where this has been asked.

Making extra work for teachers by constantly demanding that they list all the tasks they’re doing is pretty tedious.

No way.
I am exhausted. I am working longer hours than ever during remote learning. I spend 5 hours a day or more on zoom lessons then another 4+ hours on marking and planning and I work over the weekend not to mention looking after my own children. Plus over the last few weeks we have had parents evenings once a week which means another 3 hours on zoom in the evening.
I need a break I don't know how I am going to make it to half term let alone beyond that.

apart from teaching a few key worker kids??

They still have to be taught all day whether there's 3 or 30, it's the same amount of delivery.
Primary teachers have been shafted as they are expected to both teach online and have student in school. Many are spending evenings recording stuff for those at home because they're in the classroom all day.

If your sons school isn't providing feedback you need to speak to them about that and ask why.

I'm on teams all day live teaching. I have to prep resources to suit online delivery, eg write MS forms, structure worksheets differently. We're also expected to provide something for students who cannot access live lessons. So an alternative video which I sometimes make myself. I'm teaching 60 kids in most lessons due to staff absence. I had 2 hours of PPA last week. I'm mentoring a trainee. I'm re writing assessments (offline versions aren't suitable) and compiling reports. I'm giving feedback on any work that gets handed in. Last week I averaged 11 hours per day on my computer. Nevermind the non computer based stuff. I'm sure I've forgotten plenty of other jobs I'm doing, but online is not easier.

Yes.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

apart from teaching a few key worker kids??

They still have to be taught all day whether there's 3 or 30, it's the same amount of delivery.
Primary teachers have been shafted as they are expected to both teach online and have student in school. Many are spending evenings recording stuff for those at home because they're in the classroom all day.

If your sons school isn't providing feedback you need to speak to them about that and ask why.

I'm on teams all day live teaching. I have to prep resources to suit online delivery, eg write MS forms, structure worksheets differently. We're also expected to provide something for students who cannot access live lessons. So an alternative video which I sometimes make myself. I'm teaching 60 kids in most lessons due to staff absence. I had 2 hours of PPA last week. I'm mentoring a trainee. I'm re writing assessments (offline versions aren't suitable) and compiling reports. I'm giving feedback on any work that gets handed in. Last week I averaged 11 hours per day on my computer. Nevermind the non computer based stuff. I'm sure I've forgotten plenty of other jobs I'm doing, but online is not easier.

Absolutely this. Great post

Well remmy, maybe teachers are doing things you can't see. "Teaching a few KW kids" takes as much time as teaching a full class. Then setting work for the children at home, that's on top of the full day's work they've already done.

I don't know why your DCs aren't having work marked, but I'm marking every bit of work that's submitted to me. I've spent at least 6 hours this week chasing work from kids who haven't submitted it, or replying to parents querying why they've been told their child isn't engaging. And I'm still writing reports. And all the lessons I would normally be able to plan pretty quickly and use the textbooks, now I have to replan them, record a video to explain everything, or find questions that will work in an online format. I don't actually think I'm working any more hours than normal at this time of year, but I'm working in a very different way and it's exhausting.

Primary school child gets one live lesson a day so what are the teachers doing the rest of time, apart from teaching a few key worker kids??

I'll bite.

Our teaching staff have 40-50% of children in daily.
They are providing 5 lessons per day of mainly pre recorded lessons for remote learning.
They are responding to responses to those lessons on the learning platform.they are speaking at least one a week to each child at home by telephone plus a weekly whole class zoom call.
They are doing all the normal admin and paperwork r]necessary.
They are dealing with vulnerable children and issues relating to them.

I'm cv and wfh right now. I oversee the h]remote learning. Only one in my school to do so because of my medical issues and my specific role which means I can work from home during lockdown, In a single day I will have a minimum of 1000 notifications on the home learning menu, that's as well as answering parent queries, setting up the remote learning tasks in the right format, monitoring use of the external sites we have. I'm working 8am to 6pm every day minimum plus at least .5-1 day a weekend. As a HLTA I'm paid for 8:30-3:30 a day but not including holidays,

But yeah, we not busy. We're hardly doing much at all 🤷‍♀️

Our Primary is live teaching 9-2.30pm so schools vary.

Remmy - if your children are really not getting remote,learning provision of 3-5 hours minimum a day you should contact your specific school and ask about their remote,learning policy. All schools, just have them since end of October.

Presumably you've contacted them if you're so concerned, what is their response?

Teachers already gave up Easter, half term holidays and bank holidays last year to keep schools open for key worker kids. They didn't get paid for it.

I'm a qualified teacher, maths specialist. and I signed up last summer for this amazing catch-up program that Boris was spending billions on. When the agencies got back to me it became clear they either expected me to volunteer my time or accept an hourly pay rate which was way below a teacher's rate. There's no war government are planning to pay teachers for summer catch-up and teachers would be insane to do it.

It seems parents think teachers just rock up on line with out any preparation!

Teachers do unbelievable amounts of research for each lesson.

Maths, literacy, guided reading, topic, science, RE, PE, mental maths, IT, art,

Add in most of those need a new leasing 5 x a week.

Add in the children who don’t turn up or do the work. Add in the children who can’t access the work and need paper copies, these are sent to school to be printed and delivered!

IT issues, mental health issues, referrals for SA and CAMHS, lesson plans trading other teachers meetings, ordering resources, organize TA and others, information sharing, reviews, timetables, marking,

Yep they all sit about and do nothing

Plenty of the TAs seem to work in the summer as I’ve seen them at various holiday clubs! Our teachers aren’t in school, TAs are and presumably they’ll have to do the holidays again so I imagine they may not want to work the summer this year!

I started working this afternoon at 4.30, stopped for 1 and a half hours to do bedtime, then just stopped now at 11pm. So that's basically a school day worked on a Saturday. Today I was recording videos for Monday and Tuesday for the children who can't make the live sessions. Yesterday I was at my desk at 7.30, then put my laptop away at 7.30pm.

So I'm basically working my normal hours plus a bit.

Work for teachers rates only

No I won’t be working in school in the summer holiday. No way. Plenty of parents have shown no regard for my health and well-being as a vulnerable teacher by sending symptomatic children to school, having play dates during the November pretend lockdown and so on. I won’t be providing free childcare for them during my annual leave instead of spending it with my own family. If I could pick and choose which families I helped and I got paid for it then I would consider it. Maybe. But my days of going above and beyond are finished.

@Remmy123

I don't understand why trachers are working harder now than ever,

Teachers on teams but there is no homework to Mark In my son's secondary school, nothing gets handed it there is no feedback - so what is happening in between lessons what are teachers doing?

Primary school child gets one live lesson a day so what are the teachers doing the rest of time, apart from teaching a few key worker kids??

How come teachers are working harder?

That's all I hear yet my kids are being taught eff all right now!!

I'm surprised that no teachers are concerned kids falling behind and not even up fir an extra weeks teaching over the summer (paid)

What are teachers doing? Let me educate you on this, as it seems lots of people don't understand and that's exactly how teacher bashing starts. All assumptions.

Let me walk you in my shoes. I do short zooms through the school day. 20 minutes each, 4 times a day. Between that, I am responding to lots of parent enquiries, many of which relate to technology I've only just got to grips with myself.
I'm setting activities online, I'm trying to mark work coming in from 30 children whilst also trying to catch up from the day before. I'm preparing for my next zoom. I'm supporting the key worker children alongside the TA.

I don't get a break at all through the day, and I'm not even live teaching full time. I'm not even teaching the key worker children directly. They are with a TA doing the exact same work as those at home.
Yet I'm working my socks off. Those live teaching all day are probably on their knees.

Your kids aren't getting an education? How do you come to that conclusion? Are they getting set work live or not?
How can you assume this is the case for every child and that every teacher is not providing enough?

Get your facts right before posting as this sort of thing really upsets teachers who are working extremely hard at the moment.

No. I’ve been teaching a full timetable online over each and every lockdown.

@CountessFrog, You found the thread yet, where I'm meant to have said I was handing in my notice?

What are the teachers doing the rest of time, apart from teaching a few key worker kids??

Urm... well, it is not just a few key worker kids for starters. We have over a third of the school in. So quite a lot of hands on teaching (they do the same stuff as the kids at home, but it is not always that well suited to in school so needs adapting).

I am running 20 minute calls to small groups of children - 5 a day. That also needs preparation of resources to be valuable.

I am preparing / recording / making resources for all the online learning. A lot of this is duplicated effort because it had already been planned for in school but will not work online. So a lot of what I did in the Christmas holidays is now being thrown away.

I am dealing with student and parent queries about the work / IT / educational / emotional issues.

I run daily live sessions with two classes.

I record myself explaining new topics.

I train new staff members as many have are replacements due to bereavement / covid, etc.

I support work in other classes as many have teachers off due to bereavement / covid, etc.

I monitor safeguarding and mental health issues.

Remember that all the vulnerable children are in, so even if it is just a handful (and ours is more than that), they are the handful that possibly need most input.

Teachers are busy and dealing with their own stresses and fears, The constant suggestion we are not pulling our weight is not helpful or kind.

Ugh, how did this become another teacher workload thread. It was quite interesting before, now it's just another one of the same.

My workload is way lower than it is for physical school but I'm unusual because I teach Drama, Dance and Musical Theatre and work in a boarding school so, as I currently have no rehearsals, no productions, very few clubs and no evening duties, I have loads of extra time. My lesson timetable is exactly the same as normal but on Teams. It's not more work but it's more intense work. Partly because the subjects don't translate well onto Teams so it feels like pulling teeth and partly because I'm not used to using a computer very much and it gives me eye twitches and head aches by early afternoon.

Also, the time that I gain this term I will lose next term because I've had to move all this term's productions and performances into next term, which already has its own productions and performances in it. So it's going to be the most mental term ever (or at least, I hope it is! Restriction dependent of course).

A year of vilifying teachers (and continuing on this thread) and then they want something from them?!

I'm not a teacher, but I hope all the teachers tell anyone who wants a single extra minute of their time to go fuck themselves. They probably won't, as the teachers I know are beyond tolerant and patient, and genuinely care about the kids.

Wow, this thread has it all.

• declarations that teaching is a vocation
• assumptions that teachers who say they do it for the holidays or money don't care about the kids
• complaints about a particular school turned into a general moan that teachers are doing fuck all
• horror that teachers want to be paid for holiday working or just don't want to do it at all
• comparisons to ITU staff and therefore no teacher EVER can ever be upset about anything

Did I miss anything?

You missed the insults KoG.

That post got deleted, I think, before I saw it, herc, but from what I gathered from comments afterwards, I definitely need to add that to the list.